Lisa Wainwright MBE

CEO Sport & Rec Alliance. Sorted out cancer. Governor. Anti-racist. All views are mine!

[Xena @Xena_chronicle]

@RupertLowe10 This is what Henry’s father had to say, so respect the family and stop exploiting his murder for your hateful racist agenda.

[Justice For Henry Nowak @HenryNowakSol_]

Today, in Southampton Crown Court, Olivia Nowak stood up and spoke directly to the man who murdered her younger brother.

She did not shout. She did not insult him. She did not look for revenge.

She looked at Vickrum Digwa and said: “If you had known him, you would never have hurt him.”

Then she spoke about Henry.

“My brother was my first best friend, an unbreakable bond. We lived our life to the fullest together. He lit up every room that he walked into, and the world became less valuable the day he left.”

Sit with those words.

A sister, in front of her brother’s killer, in front of the press, in front of the country — and the first thing she chose to tell him was that Henry was worth knowing. That he was lovable. That if you had only spent five minutes with him, you would not have been able to do what you did.

That is not weakness. That is the highest form of strength any human being is capable of showing.

Mark Nowak stood outside the court today and demanded accountability from the police. Olivia stood inside the court and reminded the world who Henry actually was.

A father’s anger. A sister’s love. Both of them, on the same day, refusing to let Henry be reduced to a headline.

The Nowak family is the strongest thing in this story.

Olivia — thank you. For saying who Henry was. For making sure the country hears it from someone who actually knew him.

Henry — forever 18. 🤍

[Sport & Recreation Alliance @sportrectweets]

We sat down recently with @togethercoalit, @Sport_England and @EdenProject to discuss the importance of this year's @TheBigHelpOutUK to rebuilding the connective tissue of British community life 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Read more here 👇

https://t.co/ND0hGKyck8

[Lisa Wainwright MBE @LisaWainwright5]

The Sports Business Awards recognise and reward achievement by the teams behind the scenes that facilitate sporting excellence and endeavours. I'm delighted to be part of the judging panel this year.

Early Bird Offer (ends 05 June)https://t.co/r8bbqM4bkn

[Loughborough Lightning Rugby ⚡️ @LightningRugby]

For Sunday’s Lightning game against Saracens, we will be opening numerous corporate boxes at cinch Stadium for breast cancer patients, survivors, their families and medical professionals who have helped countless people through their cancer journeys.

https://t.co/a5HcnxoqR7

[Zeynep Sonmez @ZeynepSonmez__]

I stand with Katie.

5 incidents in 5 days. I left the court with 2 stitches and a bruised knee. Thankfully, it wasn’t worse.

Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before these courtside boards are removed?

Player safety must come first.
#rolandgarros

[England Athletics @EnglandAthletic]

We've officially announced a new partnership with @ParkinsonsUK, aimed at empowering people affected by Parkinson’s to stay active, connected and confident through inclusive running opportunities 🎽

Read more: https://t.co/OKWntzJoq0

[Sport & Recreation Alliance @sportrectweets]

This week, @BritEquestrian published its State of the Nation 2025 report, drawing on some of the research we helped produce alongside @sheffhallamuni to showcase the social value of equestrianism 🐴

Take a look at the State of the Nation report here 👇

https://t.co/d06Gbn6mYW

[England and Wales Cricket Board @ECB_cricket]

🧹✨From West End to world stage.

We’re thrilled to announce that @WickedUK will open the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Edgbaston on 12 June, ahead of England v Sri Lanka.

For one night only, the magic of Wicked meets the drama of world-class cricket 💚🏏

🎟️ https://t.co/jp7g2OnuIB

[Jim Chimirie 🇬🇧 @JChimirie66677]

Eleven Rape Convictions. Not One Day In Custody. And Lammy Wants to Go Further.

Two girls were raped in a New Forest town in November 2024 and January 2025. They were fifteen and fourteen years old. Their attackers filmed the assaults, shared the footage online and laughed. One of the girls was raped at knifepoint. Three boys walked out of Southampton Crown Court with youth rehabilitation orders and a three month curfew. Eleven rape convictions between them. Not one day in custody.

The first girl read her victim impact statement at sentencing. I was caught off guard. I will never get that innocence back. All I want to do is die. I no longer have fear for when that comes. The judge praised her courage. He then told her attackers none of you need to go to prison today.

Judge Nicholas Rowland cited their very young ages, their ADHD diagnoses, their low intellectual capacity and the importance of avoiding criminalising children unnecessarily. He was following the Sentencing Council's guidance precisely. Custody is a last resort. Rehabilitation is the primary purpose. The sentence is not the judge's failure. It is the policy's product.

Which makes what David Lammy is simultaneously planning considerably more alarming than the sentences themselves. The Justice Secretary is weighing proposals to extend that same framework, treating offenders as children, prioritising rehabilitation over punishment, minimising custody, to all offenders under 25. The Scottish model he is considering produced a killer rapist who set a woman on fire receiving five fewer years than he would have otherwise. It produced a man who repeatedly raped a thirteen year old girl avoiding prison entirely. Lammy wants to bring that framework to England and Wales while Lord Hermer urgently reviews sentences that are its direct and inevitable consequence.

The Attorney General who removed trial by jury for thousands of defendants has 28 days to decide whether filming a knifepoint gang rape and sharing it online warrants custody. The same man who ensured extra court capacity was in place for last weekend's Unite ghe Kingdom march is taking nearly a month to answer that question.

The second girl's statement was read on her behalf. She described nightmares, inability to sleep and feeling ashamed and insecure in her own body. The person I was before the incident has completely gone and sometimes I feel like I am grieving the person I used to be. Under the framework Lammy is proposing, the boys who produced that grief would continue to be treated as children requiring support rather than adults requiring consequences.

Former Met Police detective Peter Bleksley's call to bring back borstals will be dismissed in progressive circles as nostalgic authoritarianism. It deserves more serious engagement than that. The borstal system, whatever its flaws, operated on a principle the current framework has abandoned entirely. That young people who commit serious offences require structure, discipline and consequence rather than community orders and supervision. The evidence that rehabilitation focused community sentences deter serious youth offending is thin. The evidence from Scotland that treating young adult offenders as children produces lighter sentences for grave crimes is documented.

The Fordingbridge victims are not statistics in a sentencing review. They are two girls whose lives have been permanently altered by three boys who will be back in their communities within months. The policy that produced their sentences is the same policy the government is planning to expand. Lord Hermer's shock is noted. His government's direction of travel tells a different story.

The sentence was not a miscarriage of justice. It was justice as currently defined. That is the most alarming observation of all.

"Lammy wants to bring that framework to England and Wales while Lord Hermer urgently reviews sentences that are its direct and inevitable consequence."

[Helen Saxby @helensaxby11]

The victims of this double gang rape case were referred to as 'young women' by Jess Phillips on Today recently.
It's jarring to hear the perpetrators referred to as 'children' or 'boys' when they are the same age as their victims.
Nobody is calling them 'young men'.
#r4today

[BBC Breakfast @BBCBreakfast]

'It does send out a message, unfortunately, that rape isn't being taken very seriously'

Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, spoke to #BBCBreakfast after three teenage boys were spared custodial sentences over the rape of two girls in Hampshire

https://t.co/rqAh9X8QLr

[Suzy Wrack @SuzyWrack]

Understand that unless this GoFundMe hits its target imminently the young players won't be able to go to the tournament Paris their parents believed they had paid for. Awful outcome. Please share and don't if you're able.

[Sport & Recreation Alliance @sportrectweets]

The @IWGWomenSport Global Summit 2026 programme has been announced! 🤩

The Summit will bring together more than 1,200 leaders, practitioners, researchers and changemakers from across the world 🌍

Find out more here 👇

https://t.co/TXWQl9zXcX

[Laura Richards BSc, MSc, MBPsS @laurarichards99]

I’m still thinking about this. It’s great that this unduly lenient sentence is being reviewed BUT:
1. It should not take public outrage for this to happen in 2026;
2. The sentencing guidelines must be urgently reviewed;
3. Judge Nicholas Rowland must be removed. He chose to protect and praise serial rapists. No excuses. He must go.

[BBC News (UK) @BBCNews]

A girl who was raped by two teenage boys has told the BBC that a judge's decision to spare them jail sentences was like a "rock straight in my face".

The attorney general is to review the sentence given by Judge Nicholas Rowland, who had said on Thursday he wanted to avoid "criminalising" the "very young" boys.

Read more: https://t.co/5ghscSk0lm

[Lisa Wainwright MBE @LisaWainwright5]

@suewilkinson13 Thanks Sue, a huge collective effort driven by the NGB Coalition as well as so many sector partners too! 🙏👍

[Sport & Recreation Alliance @sportrectweets]

The Alliance has responded to yesterday's announcement that the government will be investing more than £1 billion in PE and school sport over the next three years 🗣️

Read our full response here 👇

https://t.co/x1W0QG9Xq5

[Lisa Wainwright MBE @LisaWainwright5]

@RachelReevesMP @bphillipsonMP This is great news. Also think about active travel for youngsters, extending the VAT reductions for cinemas, Zoo’s, theme parks to bicycles & sports activities over the summer? Tackling the cost of living & building a stronger, active, healthier Britain 🤞🙏 @Chris_Boardman

[Department for Culture, Media and Sport @DCMS]

Great news! Liverpool will host the 2030 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 🎉

We'll keep backing the UK to host the biggest and best sporting events in the world

https://t.co/XAV4UwZ9Tw