London 2012 blog

On Monday (21 April) London 2012 hosted a briefing for East of England MPs, aimed at informing them about the widespread benefits the London 2012 Games looks set to bring to their region.

After a mad rush from Westminster to St James’ Park station to pick up some important documents for the reception, looking like someone who has just run the London Marathon, I got back to the room sweaty and flustered. Quickly I moved to find the biggest glass going and polish off nearly all soft drink supplies made available for the event.

Still trying to fully regain my breath, the first MP arrived for the reception. As with all of the MPs that drop in over the evening, each was introduced to LOCOG and the East of England team on hand, and then could have their picture taken beside Jonathan Edwards and Olympic Diver Leon Taylor. (A welcome addition was Leon’s silver medal from the Athens Games - were the MPs more concerned about having their photo taken with the medal than with Jonathan and Leon?!)

Event team (from left to right) - Louisa Huddy, Liz Hughes, Craig Beaumont, Katie Huane, me (with the medal), Leon Taylor, Stephen Castle:

The evening also handed the opportunity for the MPs to ask any questions they may have had in relation to the widespread benefits of the Games. They were particularly interested in the plans for ensuring the Games are sustainable and leave a lasting legacy not only on London but to the rest of the UK as well. Both Jonathan and Leon were excellent in offering their views on this and added to the contributions and opinions of the other helpers on the night, the MPs went away happy that their questions had been fully answered.

All in all a good event with a great turnout.