I’ve just flown back from London, where I was speaking yesterday at the event Legacy Lives, a conference focusing on how to leave a positive and inspiring legacy behind for all participants and communities after a major sporting event.
Working at the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) with different Games Organising Committees on strategy and development, I wanted to give a sense of what’s involved in legacy creation.
As I see it, there are three groups of people involved in leaving behind something special.
The IOC sets out the framework for legacy creation in our Agenda 21 programme, and is the guardian...
Read more of “Magical memories to live in the mind”
Last week’s big event for me was the World Anti-Doping Media Symposium held in the
Olympic Museum here in Lausanne.
There were almost 80 members of the press and broadcasters from around the world, listening to a range of speakers from the
Wold Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The aim was to talk about WADA's different initiatives – from the World Anti-Doping Code, which is currently under review, to their various outreach programmes across sport.
IOC President Jacques Rogge gave a keynote speech to kick things off. His main point was that it is time for athletes to...
Read more of “Sport without doping”
Yesterday, along with Paul Deighton, I gave a speech at a sports legacy conference in London attended by several hundred delegates involved in planning major sports events around the world.
Both Paul and I were keen to emphasise our strong focus on planning a lasting legacy from the Games at this very early stage – five-and-a-half years before the Games begin.
We have already done the work to effectively ‘lock-in’ legacy. The planning application we submit for the Park in the next few days will illustrate this - outlining how the Park will be designed, the new roads, bridges, open spaces,...
Read more of “Locking in legacy”
30 January 2007
At the start of last year, I spent six months working on secondment at London 2012 to draw together the volunteering strategy, so I was really pleased to come to a reception at the London 2012 headquarters last night, recognising the contribution of around 150 people from over 100 organisations that helped with the work.
I had a fantastic time meeting up with the people that helped me, plus people from the other organisations I was not directly involved with.
It was good to hear from Seb Coe, who has a huge depth of knowledge about volunteers, and Paul Deighton's passion for...
Read more of “Lending a hand to make the Games happen”
The sight of Tim Henman’s father addressing a crowd at Wimbledon was a turn up for the books. Okay, so it was the Hockey Writers’ awards lunch at Wimbledon HC, a stone's throw (or a Buster Mottram serve for the older folk) away from the All England Club – but Henman Snr does actually walk and talk.
Years of raging debates about cardboard cut-outs in the family box at centre court were dispelled by a jovial chat about Hockey, at which he still turns out for Oxford Hawks.
My own reason for a lunch out of the office was to collect The...
Read more of “Hockey sticks and history lessons”
Today marked another step along the way for the Planning Decisions Team when we opened our planning reception 'shop' in Burford Rd.
It has been lots of work over the last few months getting ourselves set up as a planning office and of course renting a space for ordinary members of the public to come to to see the Olympic Park planning applications and to speak to the planners about any queries they might have.
The shop needed quite a lot of work done to it to adapt it to make sure it had all the space we needed for staff and...
Read more of “Opening for business”
The opportunity to come on the Paralympic Table Tennis preparation camp in Hong Kong with fellow sportspeople has been great for me.
I still have to qualify for Beijing yet, but this camp has been good preparation for the qualification process and a chance to see what it could be like in Beijing if I do qualify.
Arriving in Hong Kong itself, the thing that struck me the most at first was the amount of high-rise buildings and the smog in the air. I've never been to Asia, so Hong Kong is different to anywhere I’ve been before. The facilities for Table...
Read more of “High hopes in Hong Kong”
26 January 2007
This has been a big week for me and the rest of the Sustainable Development team at London 2012.
Last Friday, we launched our draft Equality and Diversity Strategy, now open for consultation for a month. The policy covers five key strands: inclusive design (making sure our venues and buildings are accessible to all); employment; business opportunities; community engagement and the ODA itself – making sure we're 'walking the talk'.
The strategy guides how the ODA will promote equality issues across the programme – in-house and with all our external projects. It's an unusual situation, because we are contracting out all of...
Read more of “Walking the talk in sustainability and diversity”
The 2012 Editor, 26 January 2007
Tuesday's milestone of 2,012 days to go before the London 2012 Games has inspired a flurry of activity around the UK.
In London,
Barking and Dagenham Council has unveiled its Fans project to give free access to gyms and swimming pools for the borough's top young sportsmen and women.
Ealing is looking forward to a
visit by Seb Coe to field questions and talk about what the Games will do for residents.
And Yeovil, South Somerset, is gearing up on a
project to boost community sports within the area.
What's happening near you?
Read more of “2012 countdown around the UK”
Last Friday I organised a meeting as part of our consultation on the Transport Plan for the Games with stakeholders interested in access, mobility and inclusion issues. Providing an accessible transport system is an integral part of our Games Transport Plan, as well as being one of the Mayor's aspirations.
For me the meeting was a valuable insight into some of the everyday obstacles that people with all kinds of disabilities have to face. Listening to issues around the difficulties of Blue Badge parking enforcement and the problem of different train platform heights for wheelchair users only reinforced to me the...
Read more of “Pet Passports? We're talking accessible transport”
24 January 2007
There was a real party atmosphere at the launch of the British Paralympic Association (BPA) funding appeal, hosted by The Earl of Wessex at St James's Palace last night.
It seemed that everyone who’s anyone was there, and we were all in extremely high spirits, following the announcement of an initial £500,000 donation from the Hutchinson Foundation – a huge slice of the BPA’s six-year target of £1.5 million.
What a great way to kick things off. That money is going to make such a difference to our preparations, giving the BPA the assurance it needs to make long-term plans for travel,...
Read more of “Party at the Palace”
The 2012 Editor, 24 January 2007
Taking video on a camera phone can be
so complicated. At least, that's what a 2012 press officer found while trying to capture yesterday's big news event with the PM. Hold those Oscar nominations ...
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Read more of “Waterworld - the director's cut”
The 2012 Editor, 24 January 2007
Games organisers Seb Coe and Sir Roy McNulty talk recycling, regeneration and public transport:
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Read more of “Going for green”
After taking to the water with the PM and Tessa Jowell in the morning, I ended yesterday at the
Neasden Temple (BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir).
At a time when there is much talk for us about construction timelines, the Mandir (or temple) was built in two-and-a-half years at a cost of £12 million, all from charitable donations and a volunteer workforce.
It is a magnificent building constructed from oak, limestone and marble and one that I would highly recommend visiting. Jonathan Edwards and I enjoyed talking about the Olympic project to such a real, warm and enthusastic audience...
Read more of “Neasden's magnificent Mandir”
The 2012 Editor, 24 January 2007
Yesterday Seb Coe took Prime Minister Tony Blair and Minister for Culture, Media & Sport Tessa Jowell on a boat tour of the waterways of East London, marking the launch of the Olympic Delivery Authority's Sustainable Development Strategy. View their tour and find out how the area will be brought back to life over the next five years:
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Read more of “Waterworld”
Today was my final day in Beijing - I was here for three days for meetings with the
Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) Sport team and the
International Olympic Committee (IOC). We left early for the meeting yesterday in order to be able to spend an hour at the Forbidden City - well worth the visit.
Meetings have gone well and have highighted the importance of preparing well. The focus of the IOC meetings was test events and we heard about the first two events that Beijing has staged and the challenges faced.
Beijing will be running...
Read more of “Chinese lessons”
The 2012 Editor, 23 January 2007
London 2012 Organising Committee Chair Seb Coe visited Chequers, the Prime Minister's Buckinghamshire residence, to talk through progress with 2012 plans.
While there he recorded an interview with the
Prime Minister.
Listen to the interview.
Visit the website of Number 10 Downing Street.Read more of “Seb's Number 10 Podcast”
Today marks 2012 days to go to the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Games.
The eyes of the world will be on London and all the planning and activity you have seen every day on this blog will come to fruition.
It is a great opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved and look forward to the milestones we will reach over the next 2,012 days. Here are some of the highlights...
This year we plan to launch our new brand, which will tell the world what type of Games we will host. We will also begin announcing the partner companies...
Read more of “2,012 days to go”
After the best part of 50 years working on London’s canals and rivers, I thought I’d seen and done pretty much everything, but skippering the Prime Minister, Sebastian Coe and Tessa Jowell around was quite an experience and something I’ll never forget.
I shouldn’t admit to this, but I remember going around these rivers as a young lad – when they still had horses towing barges! It’s sad to see how underused they are now, but the Games have created a real buzz about this area and a fantastic chance to get the rivers restored and used again.
I hope Mr...
Read more of “Skippering VIPs”
This morning, I accompanied Prime Minister Tony Blair, Olympic Minister Tessa Jowell, Seb Coe and Sir Roy McNulty on their tour of the Olympic Park by water.
Keen readers of the blog will remember that I took a similar tour a few weeks ago to check it out.
Today (with 2,012 days to go) we traveled to the two waterways that pass either side of the Olympic Stadium.
Read more of “Prime Minister tours Park by boat”
