Later Paul was invited to return to the board meeting where a regional presentation of the Olympic Handover and Paralympic Handover celebrations was shown. Following this, the visit moved on to Hadleigh Farm to show Paul the Olympic Mountain Biking venue.
The afternoon visit was to Chalkwell Park in Southend where Village Green, a project which has been awarded the London 2012 Inspire mark, was busy setting up and rehearsing for the Open Weekend event the next day. Colette Bailey, MD of Metal, Southend's artistic partner and producer of Village Green, talked through the vast array of activity planned for the weekend. She also invited Paul to a tour of Chalkwell House, Metal's new home, currently being redeveloped. The group then watched various artists rehearse before Paul was requested for interviews with BBC Look East and a photocall with a range of regional media.
All in all, the visit gave a great overview of some of the fantastic work being achieved in the East of England. Everyone we met during the day was incredibly passionate about their ongoing activity and had been truly inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic spirit.
