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Debbie Lye - Director of Worldwide Impact & Programme Director of International Inspiration

 

Debbie Lye joined UK Sport initially on an 8 month secondment from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in November 2004. She returned in January 2006 to become Head of Worldwide Impact and subsequently Programme Director of International Inspiration, the IOC endorsed International sports legacy programme of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Debbie started her career as an English teacher and writer and editor of learning resources in her home town of Rochdale. For four years she was a member of the W. H. Smith Young Writers’ Awards judging panel. In 1990 she joined Hopwood Hall Tertiary College as a lecturer in English and In-Service Teacher education and developed part-time degree modules with Leeds Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester, becoming Head of English in 1996.

In 1999 she joined the Civil Service as Head of Curriculum Policy in the Department for Education and Skills, moving in 2000 to become Head of School and Community Sport at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. There she worked closely with Sue Campbell to transform the Government’s aspiration sports strategy into a practical plan of action and to secure the resources to deliver it. Her major projects included: planning and establishing the national strategy for PE and School Sport, the youth sport volunteering scheme, Step into Sport, the Talented Athletes Scholarship Scheme (TASS) and the New Opportunities Fund PE and School Sport Programme to which she was an advisor.

In 2003 she became Deputy Head of Sport at DCMS and worked to strengthen the position of sport within the Local Authority Public Service Agreement framework.

In the aftermath of the July 7 2005 London Bombings, Debbie headed the DCMS Humanitarian Assistance Unit with responsibility for securing compensation and trauma counselling for victims and bereaved families, working with police and local authorities to improve family liaison services and organising the national memorial service at St Paul’s Cathedral.

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