London 2012 blog

The ‘Get Set London’ roadshow reached the Harrow Leisure Centre on Saturday and I was lucky enough to be invited to officially open the event, along with the Mayor of Harrow, Councillor Jean Lammiman and Javed Khan, Director of Community and Cultural Services at Harrow Council. When we arrived, the sports hall was full of people who had come to learn about how they could get involved in the Games and what opportunities existed for them, so there was a real buzz of activity and a fun, lively atmosphere.

The crowd was also able to meet and speak to a number of sporting ambassadors from within the borough at the event, including Maggie Alphonsi - a silver medallist in the 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup who was also named the 2006 Women’s Rugby Personality of the Year. There was also a nail-biting BMX and skateboarding demonstration at the event – it was a treat to see so much diverse talent from Harrow and an absolute pleasure to get insider information about their gruelling training schedules!



As well as all of the sporting activity taking place at the roadshow, there were some fantastic performances and demonstrations of some of the cultural ambassadors that we have within the borough. Dancevibes, a dance school based at the Harrow Healthy Living Centre, brought along a whole host of beautifully decorated dancers, who livened the room up with their Bollywood and Urban dance – some of the dancers were as young as five-years old! There was also a fascinating demonstration and workshop from the National Academy of Martial Arts in the art of Tai Chi – I was even roped into taking part in front of the crowd! Finally, The Flash Angels, UK Bollywood dance champions, took the crowd by storm with a demonstration of the talent that led to them winning the Sony TV Boogie Woogie Championship in November last year.



The Get Set London Roadshow offered guests a chance to see how much the borough of Harrow has to offer and how many opportunities there are to get involved in sport and culture in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We’d love to hear your views about sport in Harrow as well – send them to yourviews.yourviews@harrow.gov.uk.