Yesterday London 2012 joined the Vaisakhi festival celebrations in Trafalgar Square. We set up a stand so we could discuss progress on the project and talk to Londoners - particularly in the Sikh community - on all aspects of the Games.
It was a wholly positive event. People were particularly interested in volunteering, the Cultural Festival that will run from 2008, progress on the Park and employment opportunities.
We had a constant flow of people during the day - all ages, from around the UK and across the world. Everyone was hugely enthusiastic.
We also enjoyed the some great cultural displays from...
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Well, it's been an exciting week for me; it was announced that I am to be part of the 'Design Jury' to decide the winning blueprint for the London 2012 Velopark, alongside such esteemed names such as Sir Nicholas Serota, Sunand Prasad (President Elect of the Royal Institute of British Architects) and Kathryn Moore (Past President of the Landscape Institute).
It's a huge honour and quite a responsibility too, but I'm really looking forward to being a small part of something that I'm sure will have a massive impact on cycling in this country.
In addition to this I've been knuckling...
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I have just returned from a trip to Beijing to attend the Sport Accord conference and visit our Colleagues at the Beijing 2008 Organising Committee (BOCOG).
After a ten hour flight, I headed out for dinner straight away with my equivalent at BOCOG - who to my great disappointment turned out to be a Manchester United supporter.
At dinner it was very striking that many of Beijing's senior team were women - something they have in common with us.
The aim of the dinner was to get help with our observer and secondee programme for the 2008 Games and talk to them...
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I was invited to speak at a meeting at the London 2012 headquarters today to give a brief overview of the Paralympic Games to date.
So it was one of life's very nice surprises to find out that I was also there to see one of the meetings rooms had been named after me. It made me really proud.
I've been involved in every Paralympic Games from Tokyo 1964 onwards. Until 1988 we had to multi-sport, so I've competed in Swimming, Track, Table Tennis and ultimately became a fencer (when I was too old to compete and win as a Swimmer)....
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Yesterday was an opportunity to engage with a range of members and representative of the landscape industry in my new role as Project Sponsor for Parklands and Public Realm.
I took up the post just a week ago after many years in private practice and hope to bring to bear my experience of working with both public and private sectors, and with the landscape construction industry.
There was a real buzz at the Industry Day, appropriately held at Kew Gardens, and it was good to catch up with colleagues from the past and, hopefully, have met colleagues for the future.
The...
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I accompanied Lord McKenzie, Minister in DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) with responsibility for health and safety, and the Chief Inspector of Construction Steve Williams, on a visit to the Olympic Park site yesterday.
For both it was their first opportunity to get some understanding of both the scale and complexity of what we are doing, and to see the level of commitment to ensuring the health and safety of everyone involved.
We began with a meeting in London 2012 HQ, Canary Wharf, where Simon Wright and I, supported by CLM colleagues, made a presentation.
With the new aerial video...
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When the alarm went off at 7.30am on Sunday morning I was seriously regretting the decision to give up my lie-in to volunteer at this year’s London Marathon, particularly as my role would be as a very unglamorous baggage handler!
So what does a baggage handler do? We make sure that every bag left by runners at the start gets back to them when they cross the line. Each bag is numbered and put onto a lorry.
The lorries then drive to the finish where myself and about 500 other volunteers are waiting. There are about 15 volunteers allocated to each...
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23 April 2007
The London 2012 security department joined the Metropolitan Police Service and members of the national press and media for the first public sighting of the Met's new "Special Operations Room" in Lambeth last Friday.
The room - known by police officers as "GT" - contains a range of specialist equipment (it already has access to over 10,000 CCTV cameras) and represents a huge step forward in the emergency services' capabilities.
"GT" was originally based in New Scotland Yard but the new facility enlarges its capacity by an extra 400%.
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I was very proud today, on behalf of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC), to accept the
Champion of the Earth Special Award from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a recognition of the IOC’s work in the environmental field.
The IOC has taken the environmental concerns seriously since the early 1990s, when it created its Sport and Environment Commission.
The IOC has today incorporated all the basics of sustainable development, taking into account the environment, linked to social and economic benefits. This principle guides all our programmes and projects.
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To coincide with the start of spring and increased amount of wildlife activity on the site, this week will see a big increase in the amount of ecology work being carried out on the Olympic Park.
Despite the previous industrial use and years of neglect, the area - particularly the wetlands, waterways and woodlands - contains natural habitats for several species of fish, bird, bat and newt.
It is therefore important that we start to identify and relocate any species that live in habitats that could be affected by an increased amount of work near them.
We have started newt surveys...
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The 2012 Editor, 17 April 2007
London 2012 has launched a UK-wide search for people with a story that shows an 'Olympic Spirit', for a new film.
From the worthy to the wacky, we want to hear from people who have made a difference – however large or small - whether it's through sport, culture or education.
Castings are taking place over the next two weeks - find out how you could be a part of it on the London 2012 website.
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Yesterday, I went with the rest of the Waltham Forest Youth Amabssadors to the London 2012 offices in Canary Wharf. We met Seb Coe, which was a great experience - he told us about upcoming events and the latest developments and we asked him about facilities in the capital, how older people can be involved and his main aims from the Games as Chair of LOCOG.
We took part in a workshop with London 2012 education officers and gave our opinions on how we think young people and schools should be involved in the Games, which I hope they will listen...
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Today I became an official part of the London 2012 culture team – I couldn’t be happier.
I’ve spent the past year and a half or so on secondment from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, helping develop the initial cultural programme. So I know there are great things in the pipeline and I look forward to being involved in making them happen.
I come to culture with a scientific slant – with a degree in Physics and a Masters in Science Communication. My time at the Science Museum was followed by a role as Museum Education Policy Advisor in Scotland,...
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The 2012 Editor, 12 April 2007
On a flight back from an Easter break this wonderful sight came into view...you can see where the Olympic Park will be, Canary Wharf (home to London 2012 HQ), and London 2012 venues the Dome and (just out of view) ExCel.
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Plans for the London 2012 Education Programme are developing fast and we want to make sure that the whole experience is as exciting, relevant and inspiring to young people as possible.
To help us make sure that our plans are on the right track, we invited a group of head teachers, teachers and pupils to come along to a workshop at our offices last week and talk about some of our ideas.
I was lucky enough to run the workshop for young people – you can normally rely on them to be totally honest, and they always have the best ideas!...
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When London won the rights to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, we were granted the most astonishing opportunity - and not just to mount brilliant Games and host the world for six weeks in the summer of 2012.
Because of the unique nature of London's bid, we won the chance to engage the whole of the UK in a celebration of culture, education and sport across the four years from 2008 to 2012. Even more than that, we can use 2012 to help drive long term benefits to our cultural life.
It's now up to all of us in...
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The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) marked its first birthday today. Staff tucked into cake to mark the anniversary and celebrate a year of hard work and achievement.
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Can we help the growing creative industries fulfill their potential through hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games?
There seems to be a natural fit between the work of companies from the street arts, circus and carnival sectors and the desire to have strong visual and performance presence around the Games.
LOCOG are examining whether these types of companies would want to use other areas of the park as rehearsal and public performance spaces in the future, contributing to the character of the park post-2012 and, perhaps, resulting in the creation of a national centre of excellence in these sectors.
We’re currently researching...
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