Yorkshire Gold is LOCOG’s dedicated team for Yorkshire and the Humber.
The team is working to ensure that the whole region gains social, sporting and economic benefits in the lead up to the London 2012 Games.
Planning and delivery
We will concentrate on five Golden Opportunities to continue achieving our vision: becoming a world leading sporting region; having active and engaged communities; staging a carnival of culture; developing tourism potential; and becoming winners in business.
Gary Verity, Executive Chair of the Yorkshire Committee for the London 2012 Games:
‘We have already seen some enormous benefits to our region from London hosting the Games. Businesses from across our region have contributed to every major building on the Olympic Park equating to over £75 million worth of contracts, and thousands of people from our communities and schools have got involved in Games-inspired projects.
‘As the Games approach we are preparing for one big party in Yorkshire and the Humber. We can’t wait to see our sporting heroes competing in London.’
Olympic Torch Relay
Yorkshire and the Humber will welcome the Olympic Torch Relay to the region for six days, with approximately 600 inspirational local people carrying the Flame. During its journey it will pass through 78 communities, travelling within 10 miles of over 95% of the population. This will include every local authority and both National Parks.
Cultural Olympiad
Yorkshire’s signature cultural programme for London 2012 is called imove, which aims to explore and celebrate human movement. The programme will see a series of events and exhibitions launched over the coming months including the Cycle Opera in Scunthorpe and Synchronised in Sheffield.
Find out about London 2012 Festival events taking place in the region
Pre-Games Training Camps
Yorkshire and the Humber has attracted 12 nations to base their Pre-Games Training Camps in the region in the lead up to London 2012, which equates to over 30 individual teams.
This includes the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Dutch Swimming team and the Russian Diving squad, who will be based in Leeds. Elsewhere, the region will host the USA Diving team, Brazilian Judo team and the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball team in Sheffield; the Gambian and Guinea Bissau Olympic Committees in York; and the Vietnamese and Tanzanian Olympic Committees in Bradford.
During their stays, these teams will utilise the region’s outstanding sporting facilities and bring significant economic benefits to the region.
Inspire
More than 150 projects in the region have been recognised by the Inspire programme. Among these, Bradford College has set up the first women’s boxing programme to be recognised by the Inspire programme in the UK.
Inspired by Olympic Boxing and the inclusion of women's Boxing at London 2012, the College has developed a boxing programme that reaches out to young women from local schools, colleges and the wider community, encouraging them to be more physically active as well as promoting the Olympic and Paralympic Values.
Get Set
Yorkshire has 80% of all schools registered to London 2012's official education programme, with 52% of schools also signing up to be part of the Get Set network. As part of the Get Set network, schools have been offered a free ticket allowance, the potential for one student to be a Torchbearer and the opportunity to bid for up to £8,800 of funding to ‘Plan your 2012’.
Economic legacy
Businesses from across Yorkshire and the Humber have been pivotal in the creation of the Olympic Park, with all major buildings in the site having contributions from Yorkshire and Humber businesses.
In total, more than 220 Yorkshire and Humber businesses have been awarded Games-related contracts.
Firms include Arnold Laver in Sheffield, who have supplied 50% of the timber to build the Olympic Park; That Company called If from Pickering who are making all the official London 2012 bookmarks; Cohen and Wilkes International, Leeds, who are supplying children’s clothes; and Stagecoach, who are supplying buses from depots in Yorkshire.
Tourism
The region’s destination marketing organisation, Welcome to Yorkshire, is working hard to profile the county in the run up to the London 2012 Games. It will be running a series of promotions and campaigns throughout the summer including Yorkshire’s Great Party, which celebrates the best of Yorkshire’s festivals throughout 2012.
Contact information
For all enquiries related to Yorkshire and Humber’s plans to benefit from the 2012 Games email yorkshire@ london2012.com. To find out more about Yorkshire Gold visit www.yorkshire-gold.com
