Nations and Regions Making the most of the London 2012 Games ‘Today, as I travel around the UK’s nations and regions, I am delighted to see how London 2012 is already having a positive impact on people’s lives.’ Seb Coe, Chair, LOCOG Spreading The London 2012 Nations and Regions Group (NRG) is responsible for ensuring the whole of the UK makes the word the most of the Games. The group is run jointly by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Government Olympic Executive. The group has representatives from each of the nine English regions and the nations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Every month, we organise visits by members of our leadership teams to communities right across the UK. The NRG The aim is to get people everywhere involved and interested in what’s happening – and to generate concentrates media coverage so that more people are inspired to on making get involved. a tangible It’s all part of a promise we made to ensure London difference in 2012 would be ‘everyone’s Games’ – where everyone is invited to join in and enjoy the benefits of hosting three key areas: the world’s most exciting event. – Social Who’s who? – Sporting Charles Allen is Chair of the Nations and Regions – Economic Group. Olympic Champion and LOCOG Board member Jonathan Edwards is the Deputy Chair. 12 representatives on the NRG – one for each English region and each nation of the UK Charles Allen Jonathan Edwards Getting involved Thousands of people will take part in cultural activities inspired by London 2012 through the Cultural Olympiad. In fact, they’ve already started. Schools and colleges are also getting involved through the London 2012 education programme, Get Set. Plus, at Games time, up to 70,000 volunteers will be needed from around the UK. social Seb Coe at the launch of ‘Passionate about Sport’, the North East’s strategy for London 2012 Personal Best Hundreds of people in South West England are receiving skills training and support as part of in the South West a pre-employment programme inspired by London 2012. Personal Best, which has been awarded the ‘Inspire mark’ for programmes inspired by the London 2012 Games, is aimed at helping workless and socially excluded people to get into the workplace. The programme has been trialled successfully across 11 London boroughs and is now being introduced in other UK regions. As well as providing training towards an NVQ Level 1 in Event Volunteering, the course offers a range of 4 local volunteering opportunities to help participants regions of the UK gain work experience and increase their self-confidence. already benefitting from graduates of the Personal Every Personal Best graduate is also offered an Best programme interview to be a London 2012 Games-time volunteer. Personal Best in the South West is organised by the South West of England Regional Development Agency with funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the European Social Fund. The region is the fourth to offer the programme, following on from London, the North East and South East England. ‘It’s about using the inspiration of the Games to get people back on track to employment through volunteering.’ Dr Paul Pettigrew, LSC South West Regional Director for the 2012 Games Jonathan Edwards at the launch of the Personal Best programme in the North East Personal Best participant learns about event safety and security Sporting investment More than 650 world-class facilities right across the UK are included in the Pre-Games Training Camp Guide. Olympic and Paralympic teams from around the world will use them to acclimatise and train in the run-up to the Games. People of all ages, and especially young people, are also getting active through the Games. Investment is being made to improve coaching and facilities at every level of sport. sporting Jason Gardner helps launch Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week Welcoming Communities across the UK are already looking forward to welcoming athletes and officials preparing the world for London 2012 at Pre-Games Training Camps: – The New Zealand Paralympic team will tune up for the 2012 Games in Swansea. Nearby Cardiff and Newport will play host to the Australian Paralympic Committee’s pre-Games preparations. – Serbia’s athletes in sports including Swimming, Gymnastics and Cycling will take part in at least one training camp in Leeds and Sheffield every year between now and 2012. – Swim Australia has chosen Manchester as its base ahead of the 2012 Games. The team also chose the Manchester Aquatics Centre to train at before the 2009 World Championships and the 2014 Commonwealth Games. – Teams from Thailand and the Pacific Islands have agreed to prepare for the 2012 Games in England’s Northwest. – Facilities in the South East will play host to Colombia’s Paralympians in the run-up to the 2012 Games. Swim Australia will train at the Manchester Aquatics Centre Activ8ing Children in Northern Ireland are being challenged to get more active as part of a programme that builds Northern Ireland on the inspiration of the 2012 Games. The Activ8 programme, which has been created by Sport Northern Ireland, sets participants a target of completing 60 minutes of physical activity each day. Ninety thousand pupils from more than 600 primary schools have been invited to take part and record their achievements in a special Activ8 diary. The programme is based on eight steps that young people can take to live a healthier lifestyle. It was launched by 11 leading Northern Ireland sportspeople, including world and Olympic Track Cycling champion Wendy Houvenaghel and Michael 600 McKillop, a Paralympic champion in Athletics. primary schools invited to Together with other top athletes, they will be visiting take part in Activ8 some of the participating schools judged to have created the best Activ8 classroom displays. ‘London 2012 is really making a difference in Northern Ireland, not least through Activ8.’ Jonanthan Edwards, NRG Deputy Chair Wendy Houvenaghel with children at Holy Rosary Nursery everyone’s Games everyone’s Games Boost for business The Games are creating £6 billion worth of business opportunities. The London 2012 Business Network and online ‘dating agency’ CompeteFor enable companies of all sizes to bid for available contracts. Tourism will also be given a huge boost, with visitors attracted from around the world to enjoy everything London and the UK have to offer. economic Companies from around the UK are winning contracts to help build London 2012 venues, including the Olympic Stadium Bidding for A Newcastle architectural practice and a Billingham- based heavy lifting specialist are among the North East business in the businesses that have won work on the 2012 Games. North East FaulknerBrowns Architects was awarded the contract to design Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre – the Canoe Slalom venue for London 2012. Meanwhile, Mammoet UK is involved in two projects to improve London’s transport network in time for the 2012 Games. Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chairman John Armitt visited both companies as part of a trip to 98 highlight supply chain opportunities for businesses per cent of companies in the region. supplying the ODA are from the UK He encouraged delegates at the North East Regional Business Fair in Gosforth to sign up for the CompeteFor online service to help them bid for their share of contracts worth up to £6 billion. More than 1,240 North East businesses are now registered on the CompeteFor site – an increase of 100 per cent since the visit took place. The service, which is part of the London 2012 1,242 Business Network, enables companies to tender North East businesses for work both directly with the ODA and also registered on CompeteFor with contractors and suppliers in the London 2012 supply chain. John Armitt with a representative from Mammoet Cranes What next? Participation in sport and tourism are two priority areas for the NRG group between now and 2012. Sport participation London 2012 provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to inspire people across the country to participate in sport and disability sport. The aim is to increase the number of people who participate regularly. This will improve overall physical fitness and health, and bring the indirect social benefits of sports participation and a healthy, active lifestyle. LOCOG is working with a number of delivery partners to explore ways to increase participation. To date, 24 sports-related Inspire mark projects have been approved. These use the power of the London 2012 brand to enhance the project and deliver a sporting legacy throughout the UK. LOCOG is looking to highlight examples of good practice and replicate them across the UK. Tourism The NRG team are developing a tourism business network with Visit Britain, in order to capitalise on the estimated £2bn worth of opportunity generated UK-wide by London 2012 in what is the seventh largest business sector. The concept of a Tourism Opportunities Network is being developed, with a proposal due to be launched early in 2010. Thank you London 2012 would like to thank our partners for their support The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd London 2012 One Churchill Place Canary Wharf, London E14 5LN Switchboard +44 (0)20 3 2012 000 Fax +44 (0)20 3 2012 001 london2012.com A summarised version of this publication is available on request in other languages and formats. To obtain these please quote reference number LOC2009/25 Email [email protected] Phone +44 (0)20 3 2012 000 This document can be found in the publications section of london2012.com This document and the official Emblems of the London 2012 Games are © London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG) 2007.