SPORTS professionals and enthusiasts will meet to swap notes at the first conference of its kind in the North-East later this month.

A series of workshops will be staged during the event, at Sunderland's Stadium of Light conference suite, to help draw up a North-East plan for sport.

Among the guest speakers will be Tim Cantle-Jones, the regional chairman of Sport England.

Sunderland City Council's culture and leisure review committee has organised the event as part of its brief to monitor and suggest improvements in delivery of services, including leisure and sport provision.

Councillor Tom Foster, review committee chairman, said: "We've spent the past few months evaluating the contribution sport makes to improving everyone's quality of life and keeping the city 'ahead of the game'.

"The main aim of the conference is to consult people on their views on how best to deliver our vision for the future development of sport across the city."

Issues to be covered during the day include sport in the community, PE and school sport, sport equity and social inclusion, structured sporting development and, general health and fitness issues.

Only limited vacancies remain for the conference, on Tuesday, April 27, but late bookings can be made via review co-ordinator Karen Brown, on 0191-553 1004.