Do you want to go to the Olympics in London? Don’t have tickets? It doesn’t matter!! There are a range of free events and London is going to be alive as the XXX Olympiad starts off on July 27th next year.
Click here to chat with us live online to find a tour that suits you best www.london-olympiad.com.If you would like more information/detailed itineraries on our luxury 5, 7, and 10-Day tours feel free to contact me at info@london-olympiad.com.
We are not seeing a massive boom in participation. The 2012 campaign slogan is falling flat on its face.
This week, I have been in Newham, the poorest borough in London where the Olympic Park has been built.
Obesity is so bad in this part of London that doctors call in their patients as soon as they hit 40 for checks on their fat levels.
Despite having more young people living in the borough than most areas in the country, the level of sports partipation in Newham has been very low in Government surveys in recent years.
So the closure of a swimming centre at the heart of the area is causing real anger.
Locals say it's an astonishing decision when the Olympics are supposed to be encouraging people to take up sport.
So, when 2012 ramp up their celebrations on 31 December with fireworks in central London, the Atherton Leisure Centre at the heart of the Olympic borough will be shut down.
Newham Council says the pool has to be closed because of ceiling problems which will cost too much to repair.
The Mayor, Sir Robin Wales, has promised to replace it with a new centre.
But Michelle Turner, who is running the campaign to save the pool, is not convinced the borough has the money to deliver a new pool.
Although the Olympic Aquatic Centre has been built in Newham, residents says it is a 40-minute walk away and won't be open for some time.
I've also been talking to Trevor Blackman, who runs sports training programmes in Newham.
He says Government public spending cuts have meant he is only running one programme in the borough now.
All this in the place where the Games really need to make an impact.
So, who is taking responsibility for this lack of progress in participation?
Lord Coe, the 2012 chairman, takes some of the hits because he is the man who made the promise in his emotional speech to the International Olympic Committee in Singapore.
But it is also the Government, London Mayor Boris Johnson as well as local authorities and the national governing bodies of sport who need to step up to the mark here.
We've had the catalyst of the Olympics for six years now but Britain's sporting landscape isn't changing like we were promised it would.
Click here to chat with us live online to find a tour that suits you best www.london-olympiad.com.If you would like more information/detailed itineraries on our luxury 5, 7, and 10-Day tours feel free to contact me at info@london-olympiad.com.
Now that the venues are on track to be ready and most of the tickets are sold, the biggest 2012 issue, for me, in the next few months is the failure of the Games to increase participation in sport.
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| www.london-olympaid.com |
This was the biggest promise of London's bidding campaign. And let's face it, it's not happening.
This week, I have been in Newham, the poorest borough in London where the Olympic Park has been built.
Obesity is so bad in this part of London that doctors call in their patients as soon as they hit 40 for checks on their fat levels.
Despite having more young people living in the borough than most areas in the country, the level of sports partipation in Newham has been very low in Government surveys in recent years.
So the closure of a swimming centre at the heart of the area is causing real anger.
Locals say it's an astonishing decision when the Olympics are supposed to be encouraging people to take up sport.
So, when 2012 ramp up their celebrations on 31 December with fireworks in central London, the Atherton Leisure Centre at the heart of the Olympic borough will be shut down.
Newham Council says the pool has to be closed because of ceiling problems which will cost too much to repair.
The Mayor, Sir Robin Wales, has promised to replace it with a new centre.
But Michelle Turner, who is running the campaign to save the pool, is not convinced the borough has the money to deliver a new pool.
Although the Olympic Aquatic Centre has been built in Newham, residents says it is a 40-minute walk away and won't be open for some time.
I've also been talking to Trevor Blackman, who runs sports training programmes in Newham.
He says Government public spending cuts have meant he is only running one programme in the borough now.
All this in the place where the Games really need to make an impact.
So, who is taking responsibility for this lack of progress in participation?
Lord Coe, the 2012 chairman, takes some of the hits because he is the man who made the promise in his emotional speech to the International Olympic Committee in Singapore.
But it is also the Government, London Mayor Boris Johnson as well as local authorities and the national governing bodies of sport who need to step up to the mark here.
We've had the catalyst of the Olympics for six years now but Britain's sporting landscape isn't changing like we were promised it would.
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