London 2012 blog

I’m on The Clore Leadership Programme - a training course designed to strengthen leadership in the cultural sector. We have up to two years to complete the course that includes a three-month secondment, a three-month research project plus two residentials and several bespoke training courses. I’m spending my three month secondment here, at London 2012, working with the Culture team on the launch of the Cultural Olympiad. 

The Clore Leadership gives me the support to definitively consolidate my experiences in the arts and through the secondment to experience a working environment outside of my comfort zone. Working at LOCOG is a huge departure from my role as the artistic director of CultureMix, where I oversee the development of young people eager to join the creative industry either as musicians or in the hope of running their own creative business.

As the UK Cultural Olympiad Launch Coordinator, my job at London 2012 is to coordinate the launch of the four year festival of arts and culture celebrating the Olympic and Paralympic Games - The Cultural Olympiad. I gather and record information on local, regional and UK-wide events happening during the launch weekend in September 2008 working closely with the UK Cultural Olympiad Launch Executive Sarah Weir, the Culture team and the Creative Programmers, who represent each region and country, to ensure an even spread of art forms and representation.

My work with the Culture team is very focused and extremely busy with clear goals, making the experience of working for London 2012 an enjoyable challenge. For example, I am helping to create a guide for the Creative Programmers which explains how artists and organisations can be part of the Cultural Olympiad.  I am also producing a matrix for the team which will provide an overview of Cultural Olympiad events across the UK.

My life in the arts has been consistently varied and always interesting ranging from running a stage at WOMAD for seven years to exploring collaborations between steel pan music and indigenous percussion in Brazil. From avant garde performance art in Rome to teaching business studies at Thames Valley University.

I am inspired by helping to create opportunities for young people and see participation as an effective method of increasing a sense of pride and personal achievement in them and therefore their communities. I have seen first hand the direct benefits a creative process like music and performance can bring to so many diverse cultures and communities.

Working with the culture team is beyond exciting and I am honoured to be a part of such a fantastic global event happening right here in London and the UK. Working on the Cultural Olympiad adds another dimension to the colourful spectrum of creative experiences that is my life in the arts.