One of my top priorities as chair of Sport England has been fulfilled this week, as the Government confirmed the appointment of six new people onto our board.

Renewing and strengthening our non-exec team has been a major focus for me in recent months. I firmly believe that our board needs breadth and depth, as well as individual excellence, to help Sport England deliver its goal to get more people playing and enjoying sport - and helping those with talent fulfil their sporting potential.

Coming so soon after the Secretary of State’s announcement of plans to merge Sport England and UK Sport, some might ask why our board is being reinforced now.

My answer is simple.

We have a clear mandate to deliver a mass participation sporting legacy from a home Olympic and Paralympic Games that is less than two years away. Such responsibility will go well beyond the Games and requires expert guidance and governance at the very highest level.

The appointments we have made provide just that. We have representation from all of the communities we serve and the partners with whom we work; a board that understands the full spectrum of sporting needs and, most importantly, that will hold us to account and ensure that value for money is secured for every pound we invest in sport.

These are skills and experience required right now, in the same way that they will be needed by the non-exec arm of the merged organisation - to make sure we achieve excellence in sport at every level. I am therefore delighted to announce the following appointees to the Sport England board:

Nick Bitel is a name familiar to most in the world of sport. As chief executive of the London Marathon since 1995, he has overseen huge growth in the event, which now sees over 35,000 finishers each year. Who better to help us maximise growth in mass sports participation? He's also no stranger to the world of sports administration having been a board member of UK Sport.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of sport, so it's great to be welcoming the chief executive of a strong community-based voluntary organisation on to our board. Hanif Malik's stewardship of the Hamara Healthy Living Centre has seen it grow from small beginnings to become Leeds' largest ethnic minority organisation in the voluntary and community sector. Hanif will be a passionate advocate for the third sector on our board.

Our partnership with local authorities is key to delivering for community sport, with councils being the biggest investor in sport and sports facilities. As a former director of leisure services and chief executive of Cumbria County Council, Peter Stybelski brings a wealth of expertise on the opportunities and challenges facing both the sport sector and local authorities.

It's great to be welcoming an Ashes winning captain to our leadership team. But Clare Connor (pictured) brings so much more than simply a knowledge of talent development and the intricacies of spin bowling. Since retiring, Clare has overseen further glories on the pitch as the ECB's Head of Women’s Cricket and she was the first woman to be appointed to the International Cricket Council's cricket committee.

Peter Rowley's distinguished career in retail finance in banking and building societies ended last year when he retired after 17 years as chief executive of Darlington Building Society. His financial expertise has been matched by a longstanding passion for, and involvement with, community sport - and indeed Sport England.

If this wasn't enough, Peter is also an expert on social enterprise and is currently Head of Business Support at The Social Investment Business.

Finally, I'm delighted to say Sadie Mason is joining our board. Sadie is chief executive of Active Sussex which, like the other 48 county sports partnerships, does so much to drive increases in sports participation at the local level. She's in a fantastic position to advise us on how decisions we make translate into sporting endeavour on the ground. She is also a former international basketball player and her previous career in banking will be a valuable asset.

These new faces join an already strong team on the Sport England board nd will add strength as we move forward into new territory for the organisation.

Now our work really begins.

Richard Lewis is the chairman of Sport England. To find out more about the new appointments click here.