London 2012 blog

It’s not just sporting venues being constructed within the Olympic Park - the Olympic Village will be built just beside it - a key development on the Park. With accommodation and facilities for over 17,000 athletes and officials during the Olympic Games, and over 8,000 during the Paralympic Games, the Olympic Village will enhance their experience of London 2012.

1) From this view taken in November 2007 you can see progress taking place on the area that will link the Olympic Village and VeloPark during the Games…:

Read more of “Latest images: Olympic Village”

You’d be surprised how profoundly disturbing it can be for an evening of contemporary dance to be punctuated by a water leak resulting in loud rhythmic drips from above creating a glistening damp patch on the edge of the stage. Surely this can’t be happening. The puddle is fast becoming a pool and the dancers won’t be able to avoid it for long. 

Worse still this is a premier – we’re almost an hour into the very first night of Birmingham’s prestigious International Dance Festival. The city has invested significantly to build on its already strong reputation in dance. Heading towards 2012 and the Cultural Olympiad, Birmingham is set to stamp its mark around the world in this most athletic of art forms.
Minutes later, fidgety members of the audience look at each other in discomfort noticing that water is now seeping out, ominously from the back of the stage. A string of rivulets is advancing, and then coalescing towards the audience. Dancers are soon skidding, their costumes are dripping and the posh folk in the front row of the stalls are feeling the splashes.

I remember seeing the severe weather warning earlier in the day, but Birmingham’s Hippodrome Theatre has enjoyed a multi-million pound refurbishment. It is the spectacular home to the Birmingham Royal Ballet and surely they wouldn’t allow anything as simple as a leaky roof or dodgy plumbing to jeopardise such a night.

Read more of “A watery opening to the International Dance Festival”

I am very excited by the fact that Open Rehearsal will be one of the core projects in London for the launch weekend of the Cultural Olympiad on 26th - 28th September. Open Rehearsal is a pan-London project that aims to engage audiences with culture by offering them a whole range of 'behind the scenes' activities. Over these three days, arts venues all over city will open their doors for a packed programme of rehearsals, backstage tours, workshops, master classes, talks and debates.

Because Open Rehearsal aims to open doors, engage audiences, encourage participation and learning as well as promote London’s phenomenal cultural offer and resources I believe it is a great fit with the aspirations for the Cultural Olympiad programme as it encourages and inspires people to open themselves up to new experiences, be it the organisations or the audiences.

Open Rehearsal is run as a joint initiative between Greater London Authority and Visit London and was conceived on the basis that culture is and should be for everyone. There are barriers to this as the notion of culture can sometimes seem out of reach to many. It has developed successfully because we continue to add new initiatives, work with new partners and broaden the scope of activities to help break down these perceived barriers.

Read more of “Opening the doors of culture”

Before joining London 2012 I had two linked careers, one as an arts manager and one as a practitioner - I DJ and used to manage bands. As you can imagine I've had some great experiences travelling from gig to gig, festival to festival. Playing Trafalgar Square with a huge Creative Routes ensemble- an organisation that puts on events by mental health service users. This was fantastic, performing a song with the repeated refrain '**** psychiatry', which debates alternative approaches to mental health. As you can see I have a strong passion for disability and the arts.

As a Disability Cultural Associate I will be focusing on developing the project 'Extraordinary Abilities', which is one of the major projects of the Cultural Olympiad. This will be a four year celebration of disability arts, culture and sport. The project is in its early stages and there is a lot to be done in different work areas such as creating the infrastructure, writing the business plan, agreeing funders and delivery partners, consultation with the different groups that want to get involved and working out a communications strategy. 'Extraordinary Abilities' is a working title - any suggestions of a name to replace it will be most welcome.

In between this all this work it has been interesting shadowing Steve Mannix to a few meetings. There has also been the welcome diversion of working with Mary Genis a Clore leadership fellow, on the launch of the Cultural Olympiad.

Read more of “An extraordinary opportunity”

I have been working on the Olympic Park for over a year as Assistant Supervisor for Enabling works on Construction Zones 1 and 2. For the uninitiated, come Games-time, Zone 1 will accommodate the Aquatics Centre and Zone 2 will be the main gateway to the Olympic Stadium. Enabling works is a catch-all term for demolition, remediation (cleaning the soil to get rid of contamination) and general site clearance, as well as some not insignificant structures and utility work.

My role involves working for the Project Management team out on site, in close contact with the contractor carrying out the works on my designated zones. I have to check that the contractor is working to the quality required, working fast enough to meet programme deadlines, using the budget sensibly and working to current health and safety legislation.

Read more of “Enabling works on the Aquatics Centre”

So it is 118 days until we become the Host City for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As Director of the Cultural Olympiad launch, what this means to me is that from the weekend of 26-28 September, people right across the whole of the UK can begin to see how they can be part of 'everyone's Games'.

London 2012 is more than four weeks of sport and the four-year Cultural Olympiad is just one way of clearly showing this. As Pierre de Coubertin said ‘The Olympics is the wedding of sport and art’. So after we have watched the world’s best athletes physically pushing themselves to become Olympic and Paralympic champions in Beijing, and the Olympic and Paralympic flags have been handed over to the Mayor of London on 24 August and 17 September respectively, it will be time for us to push ourselves away from being just spectators and get involved in the Cultural Olympiad.

Over the launch weekend of 26-28 September there will be a range of activities across the UK for people to take part in. And for the next four years, this is our chance to be imaginative, get creative and see the world in a different light. To try something new. To do things like never before. It is time for us all to think differently about the Olympic and Paralympic Games and to show ourselves, each other and the world the immense, impressive and wide range of creative talent the UK has.

My challenge for everyone is to see how each individual person can open up, get involved in the Cultural Olympiad and be part of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Read more if you would like to be part of the Cultural Olympiad over the next four years or the even just the launch weekend

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:

Read more of “East of England MPs Parliamentary drop-in”

'Do you want to come to the Great Wall tomorrow?', Andida, (the Dutch Synchronised Swimming judge) asked me as I lugged my suitcase into the hotel. Why not I thought, it’s the only day free of meetings and/or competitions, so I should make the most of it. Little did I know that Andida and her partner were actually planning a 10k between the two villages of Jinshanling and Simitao. As I climbed, yes climbed, the steepest parts, all I was worried about was whether I really could make it to the end.



But I did and the bar at the end served me one of the best cold beers I have ever tasted!

So the next day it was with slightly stiff legs that I arrived for the first time at the Water Cube, the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games Aquatics venue, where I was due to judge at the Synchronised Swimming Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The bright blue ‘bubbles’ shone brightly in the hazy sunshine, with the Birds Nest stadium in the background providing a spectacular first impression.

Inside the 'Water Cube':

Read more of “Judging the Synchro Swimming qualifiers in Beijing”

During the London 2012 Games, about 80 per cent of spectators will get to the Olympic Park through the three 'gateway' stations - Stratford Regional, Stratford International and West Ham.

As Planning Manager for Stations, my job is to make sure that West Ham - just one mile from the southern entry point to the Olympic Park - can accommodate the huge volume of London 2012 spectators.

Of all the spectators travelling by rail, about 20 per cent will use West Ham to get to the Olympic Park. How does this translate in numbers? Well, around 400 spectators every two minutes will arrive at West Ham during the busiest times of the Games, with most using the District Line.

Read more of “West Ham – gateway to the south of the Park”

A sunny St George's Day in Wembley and I am welcoming George and Tommy, two gentlemen who have passed a plant operative course at the Construction College East London. I invited them after seeing their excellent performance on dump trucks at the College. We have lots of demand for dump truck operatives at the moment as the London 2012 project continues to move thousands of tonnes of soil every day. It gives us the chance to target local people and give them the opportunity to work on the Olympic Park.

Read more of “Local people given the chance to work on Olympic Park”

We couldn’t believe it when London 2012 contacted us to tell us that our band, We Were Heroes, had won the London 2012 Get Set London Talent competition. It was honestly one of the happiest days of our lives and this opportunity means so much to us. There are five members in the band, all of us from London, and it’s pretty much a dream of ours to one day be a successful band. Being given this chance means everything.

We first heard about the London 2012 Get Set London Roadshow talent contest when we were watching the ITV London news one evening. London 2012, The Mayor of London and the LDA wanted to find a talented London musical act to perform at the Handover Celebrations in London this August, when the Olympic flag is handed to London from Beijing. We decided that we would go for it! We uploaded a video of us performing onto the ITV website and basically crossed our fingers, hoping that we would be picked out. In late-March, we got a phone call to tell us that we were among the acts chosen to perform at the Get Set London roadshow event in Brixton, on the 4th April.



The performance at the roadshow was brilliant fun and we had such a good day. We were performing in the south London audition heat and there were other acts taking part in heats across north, west and east London too, all at various Get Set London roadshow events. ITV filmed the performances and we were informed by the London 2012 judges later that day that ‘We Were Heroes’ was one of the two semi-finalists from the south London heat who’d made it through to the voting stage! Our performance was put up on the ITV website, so that viewers could log on and vote for their favourite act to take part in the final. Incredibly, we were then chosen as one of the finalists!

Read more of “Winning the 2012 talent competition”

During the Games, thousands of spectators will use Stratford Regional Station every day to get to the sporting action at the Olympic Park. As part of the Stratford team, I am pleased to report that our work to boost capacity and accessibility at the station for the Games and beyond is progressing well.

Over Christmas, we demolished buildings on platforms 10a and 11 to get ready for the construction of new structures, such as stairs and lifts, which will lead to a disused subway that we are going to re-open.

Before demolition of the old station entrance and canopy:

Read more of “Improving Stratford station for the Games and beyond”

Last week I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit a school in Waltham Forest to join in with a model making workshop. It was part of a series of workshops that had been taking place to help spice up the hoardings (boards marking the perimeter of the Olympic Park) that are going up along Hackney Wick.

Me in the pink top with pupils and Zoe from the ODA External Relations team:



The workshop was based around making models of the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre in a workshop with 'Signs of Life' - a Tower Hamlets social enterprise organisation.

It was a real contrast to my art lessons when I was at school (only a few years ago!), the facilities were modern, fantastically equipped and at the real cutting edge of technology.

Read more of “Art lessons were never like this when I was at school!”

In this week's peek at the Olympic Park, the images show what we’ve been doing to widen the Waterworks River. Water is a central feature of the Park. The Waterworks River, adjacent to the Aquatics Centre, is currently undergoing extensive regeneration.  

1) This photo was taken last summer before any piling work began. Time was not on the side of the old blue metal railing and the dilapidated concrete walls were originally built in the 1930s:



2) With the old blue railings in the foreground of this image and the piling beyond, you can see how the Waterworks River will be widened by about eight metres once the work is complete:

Read more of “Latest images from the Olympic Park”

My time here has been great!  I’ve gained so much from this experience. I have worked in different departments everyday and I enjoyed them all.



The first day was the day I was kind of nervous but then there was a kind lady Sevcan from HR who took me through all the steps. I had to fill in a form and I was asked to fill in what I would like to achieve from doing this work experience. I didn’t know who I was going to work with and how old they were going to be so I decided to say that I would like to work with people at all levels, and this is something I experienced.

I have gotten to know lots of people and got to talk to all the nice people here.

Working here with such great views has been excellent! There were absolutely no negatives from doing this work experience so I am very happy about that.

On the first day I was here I had to do some database work. Then I had to photocopy some certificates, then write on them and write on the envelope so they were ready to send off.

The next day was working with the facilities team which was a lot of fun in my opinion. At 10:00am I had a health and security tour which lasted around 25 minutes and I did it with 2 other people. I had to listen quite carefully because I had a question paper which I had to fill in straight after. Then I had to sort some things out. I had to sort out the stationery room, working with the big screen televisions which they use in their meetings.

I got to work in reception for a little while which was fantastic. The ladies beside me where very nice but they were very busy at the same time.
The next day I had a site trip which was to go to the Olympic arena and see what was happening.

Last week Manchester MEN Arena hosted the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) 2008.  Two temporary swimming pools (competition and warm-up) transformed the MEN Arena into a competition venue with 800 of the world’s best swimmers from more than 130 countries competing.   



As a seasoned volunteer and passionate sports fan I knew this was an opportunity not to be missed so I submitted my application to volunteer at the Championships and waited with baited breath. I was delighted when my successful application was confirmed. Arriving the night before the start of the Championships I was eagerly looking forward to finding out what my role would be. I checked into my hotel and then went off in search of my accreditation and uniform. I almost cried with laughter when I was presented with a pair of XXL men’s tracksuit bottoms which covered me from head to foot! The polo shirt was a slightly better fit – only a large. 

I set off for the MEN Arena the following morning deciding to take the tram. Oh how I wish I had walked! - I missed my stop and ended up in the suburbs, although it was along with a couple of swimmers from the Croatian Team! We eventually found our way back to the MEN Arena only a few minutes late. The cold and wet weather did not dampen my excitement. Just entering the venue by the Staff Entrance gave me a thrill as the swimming teams were being dropped off by coaches at this point.   

Read more of “A fabulous five days: volunteering at the Swimming World Champs”

I never win anything, so you can imagine my delight when I received the e-mail stating “Congratulations, you have won.”  Me and a number of colleagues were given the opportunity to tour the London 2012 Olympic Park site. As an employee of BT, the Official Communications Services Partner for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I was excited to see the extent of things to come.  

I had no idea about the amount of work the construction teams have ahead of them – and just how much has been done so far.  The soil washing, the archaeological finds, the decontamination, the moving of the canal walls, and the laboratories on site – the list goes on. The visit has given me a better understanding and a whole new outlook on the event – it’s amazing!

On returning to the office my own personal London 2012 journey was to continue. I was given another amazing opportunity – this time to attend the official launch of BT’s ambassadors for London 2012 at BT Tower on 14th April. 

Read more of “My 2012 journey begins”

I am the Director for Infrastructure and Utilities for the Olympic Delivery Authority, who are responsible for developing and building the new venues for the London 2012 Games and their use afterwards. I am in Beijing on a fact finding trip. It has proved to be enormously useful. This week there have been a number of test events held in the venues and the Beijing 2008 Organising Committee (BOCOG) have gone out of their way to give us 'access all areas' so we can learn as much as possible.

I have been focussing particularly on what it means to be venue ready for the Olympic and Paralympic Games - for example the power needs, the systems integration and the particular media requirements. We want to ensure that we design in as much as we can at the earliest stage for the London 2012 venues to meeting LOCOG's Games-time needs. 

Read more of “Fact finding in Beijing”

In just over 100 days, Beijing will welcome the world to the 2008 Olympic Games. However, the biggest show on earth actually begins a month earlier (8 June) when the broadcast and press centres open and then the athletes begin setting up home in the Village.



This is a city that is well prepared and you can't help but be impressed with the state of readiness, the enthusiasm and pride with which the Organising Committee ('BOCOG') and their teams are applying the final touches. 

Together with the ODA we have had an unprecedented look behind the scenes of the venues here in Beijing and the testing that BOCOG is putting itself through.

Read more of “Learning lessons as preparations step up in Beijing”

Hi I’m Kathryn and I work in the Park health medical centre as the  receptionist. I arrived here at the Olympic Park in December 2007 having previously worked in construction for almost two years.

Working in the medical centre on the Park can be a challenge but very rewarding. The nursing team and I moved into the centre on Waterden Road in February. We have settled in now and we are getting busier and busier doing medicals for site workers. 
 
I have booked in a variety of people for different reasons including medicals, health checks and walk-in treatments. It feels great knowing that we are helping to keep the people working on the Olympic Park healthy. 

Read more of “Working in the Olympic Park Medical Centre”

Orient Way is a multi-million pound railway siding project that we need to deliver to a tight deadline, while maintaining the highest safety standards. Railway sidings are a series of tracks used to ‘park’ trains that only run during the morning and evening peak. Once these trains arrive at a facility like Orient Way, they are cleaned, restocked and made ready for evening peak travellers.

So what is my job all about? Is it going around telling all and sundry to put their hard hat on? No, not at all! Put simply, my job is to make sure that site workers go back to their families in the same condition they left in the morning.

Read more of “Working safely and smartly at Orient Way”

Hi ya, my name is Felessia and I work at the Park health medical centre. I started here as a treatment nurse in March 2008 and I adore every minute of it. I am a dual qualified nurse with my speciality in emergency nursing.

The medical team with ODA Chairman, John Armitt:



I have been qualified for over 12 years and have worked in emergency rooms in Trinidad and Tobago and here in London at our very local Homerton and Newham University Hospital. I got to the pinnacle of my career, where the routine of each day was the same pattern and I desired a change.

Read more of “My job as a nurse on the Olympic Park”

I always knew I'd end up doing a marathon...mainly because it "runs" in the family. But I got pretty good at making up excuses; dodgy knee/ankle, no time to train, too close to my birthday...washing my hair that day.

Then I turned 30 and decided it had to be done. I managed to persuade a few others to join me, although admittedly the wine held more sway than my feeble powers of persuasion which did little to hide my ignorance of training schedules and going for runs on cold, dark winter nights.

But it seemed like a good idea and we even chose extremely worthwhile charities to run for. I desperately wanted to run for a cancer charity as I lost my mum to cancer some years ago... Plus I wanted to wear a massive foam daffodil around my neck on the big day. So kidding!

Then the day came. I thought it never would! Woke up pretty scared (not to mention tired as it was 6am and those that know me will tell you that I'm no morning person!).  Got to the start line and that's when the enormity of it dawned on me. But the volunteers were just AMAZING. If our volunteers in 2012 are half as good, our Games will be out of this world.

Read more of “My Marathon: the best is yet to come”

Sunday dawned with a distant alarm clock going off at a disturbingly early hour for a day off. A day off? I was about to attempt to run the 26.2 miles of the London Marathon, so hardly a day off. I have run the marathon in London twice before, but this was the first time for six years and last time I had no pretensions at running a good time as I was dressed as a dog (a sacrifice made to raise money for a dog charity). This time was different...

Me, in the green:



Following the obligatory porridge, strong caffeine and energy drink, I set off for the station where you were immediately aware of the number of Sunday morning commuters all heading for Blackheath. 35,000 of us in fact, plus lots of friends and family. It was a beautiful morning and as soon as you heard the BBC music as you approached the start, the excitement really began to build. Spotting the fancy dress costumes with exclamations of, ‘how on earth are they going to run a mile let alone 26 dressed like that?’ is a tried and tested way of settling the nerves. Of all the costumes, the stilt walker, the Royal Marine on skis with his toboggan and the Masai Warriors stood out. Of equal note are the people wearing shirts denoting them as marathon junkies – '35 marathons in the last 22 days' was the most ridiculous I saw.

Read more of “Moved to tears at the Marathon”

India, together with Azerbaijan, Brazil, Palau and Zambia is one of the five countries where 'International Inspiration' is working to inspire and enrich the lives of young people by playing and excelling at sport.  
As part of the programme, Sharon Kee, an Advanced Skills Teacher based at Ivybridge Sports College in Devon has over the past 12 weeks been working with 11 schools in Delhi to develop an operational PE curriculum for the Indian Primary Schools. 

Sport in the playground:


Her work with the schools has had such a great impact that the Delhi authorities are looking at introducing the PE curriculum changes across 800 schools. She has certainly made an impact as this quote from a recent thank you letter to Sharon shows. The headteacher from the Lulachi Hansraj Model School wrote, 'We all have been inspired by your unstinting efforts in promoting sports and sports values in different schools of the world and establishing the fact that nations are built not in the classroom but in the playground...Inspired by your plans, we have incorporated a lot of action games and physical activities in our regular curriculum.'

Read more of “Nations are built not in the classroom but in the playground”

When I was a sprinter I hated long runs in training (and by ‘long runs’ I mean anything over 20 minutes) but I’d always secretly quite fancied having a go at the marathon. It’s quite an achievement and something to tick off the list of ‘Things to do before I die,’ obviously hoping that it wasn’t the running of the marathon that caused my untimely passing! 

So this was the year...I almost followed a training regime. My old coach claims I trained harder for this than I ever did in my professional career.  I think/hope he was joking...

So with the words of my former training partner ringing in my ears, "Remember, if you find yourself at the front you've probably gone off too fast," I joined the tens of thousands of people on Blackheath at 9 o’clock on Sunday morning ready to try something incredibly brave or incredibly stupid (depending on your point of view). 

From watching previous year's events on television, it hadn’t crossed my mind what massive organisational feat it is. Transport for London provided extra trains and free transport for all competitors. There were three separate starting points for runners (which converged a mile or so into the course) and each starting point was equipped with bathroom facilities and drinks stations – the essential pre-race requirements. Kitbags were labelled with your vest number and loaded onto baggage lorries which would deliver them to the finish for collection many hours later.

Read more of “If you find yourself at the front, you've probably gone off too fast”

Ahhh...lazy Sunday mornings, time to relax after a long week at LOCOG.  Well not on this particular day – especially not for the intrepid staff members taking part in the London Marathon – congratulations to our Crazy Quad!

Read more of “Watching the Marathon unfold”

My colleagues at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), London and I were taken on a fascinating tour of the Olympic Park site earlier this week and were very impressed to see the work that has taken place since our last visit. The huge task of the demolition and land remediation of an area equivalent to that of Hyde Park is no mean feat. This work is a crucial foundation for the next phase of major construction. We were able to see the location and size of the various facilities that will be available.

Visiting the site also hit home the fact that this area was by no means the easiest option. Along with the demolition and land remediation that is needed, there are other obstacles such as the waterways and train lines that cut through the site, but that will in the long run help to leave a lasting legacy after the Games. When these obstacles are overcome, the site will have five world-class facilities and will be one of the biggest urban parks developed in London for 150 years, which will be a major investment in London’s future.

There is much that remains to be done within a challenging time frame and we cannot take our eye off the ball. But the achievement so far is commendable. Business is fully committed in this effort to make the Games a real success in terms of showcasing London, leaving a lasting legacy, boosting skills levels and maximising benefits for business.

After the heady heights of last week's aerial photos blog, this is the latest weekly update from me on the changing views across the Park. Read on for the latest views from the Aquatics Centre site and the Olympic Stadium bowl, which will contain the lower permanent tiers of seating and track. 

1) In this panoramic you can see both the Stadium and Aquatics Centre sites and to the far right of the image you can also see Stratford International Station. During the Games a walkway and bridge will link the station to the Stadium:



2) After months of digging out and treating the contaminated soil, this is the latest overview of the Aquatics Centre site. On the left of the image, the widening of the Waterworks River walls is in progress:

Read more of “Latest images: Stadium and Aquatics Centre”

Recently David Higgins (ODA Chief Executive) and I attended a design workshop at Greenacres Primary School, hosted by the ODA and Signs of Life, a social enterprise organisation. Over the last few months, 450 children from 17 schools across the five Host Boroughs have been taking part in the workshops.

Inspired by London 2012, students have been working with photography, creative writing, collage, model-making, footprints and wheelchair tracks, ceramics and paint to produce designs. Some of these designs will be displayed in a 'gallery' on a 300m stretch of hoardings along the Hackney Wick towpath. In this particular workshop, pupils made 3D models of the Aquatics Centre and the Olympic Stadium.

The workshop at was great fun and really inspiring. We had such a warm welcome from the young people and I was impressed with their creativity. David and I joined in with the model making and I am not sure who enjoyed it more - myself and David or the children! I made some terrible clay athletes that we all found hilarious but the children were kind enough to let me put my shoddy work in their beautiful models. It was fantastic to see the way everyone worked in teams and shared ideas.

Pupils designing:

Read more of “Creating designs for Olympic Park hoardings”

My company went along to the London 2012 Business Network event in Belfast on 8 April 2008, organised by Invest Northern Ireland. We are interested in connecting with security companies and building contractors working on the 2012 Games, with a view to partnering on biometric solutions for access control. We have over 10 years experience in this area. During the event registration we met other Northern Ireland companies over coffee and were able to network and make new contacts.

Morag Stuart, Head of Procurement at ODA, shared information on the progress of the construction of the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre and landscaping at London 2012. Most interestingly she told us which main contractors had been awarded work on these projects.

Another speaker introduced us to the CompeteFor section of the Business Network and explained how to register our company, search for opportunities and publish our company profile online. We also learned of the criteria that buyers are looking for in suppliers. This will help us to find suitable companies to partner with and give us an edge when applying for tenders. Overall the event was a worthwhile experience that we hope will lead to new business and the opportunity to work on the prestigious London 2012 project.

After a busy few weeks I’ve just about come back down to earth after a fantastic World Cycling Championships in Manchester.

I was pleased with my own performance. It was a great feeling to pick up two golds and one silver medal, but I was equally delighted with the way the whole British team performed: nine golds and two silver medals, with a couple of world records thrown in. It was an unbelievable result and sets us up nicely as we turn our attentions to the Beijing 2008 Games.

Naturally my focus is now on preparing for Beijing but it was also great this week to see how plans are progressing for the London 2012 VeloPark.

Read more of “UK cycling hits gold with VeloPark plans”

The MEN Arena in Manchester is a place used to hosting the likes of Bono, Sir Mick and seemingly endless nights of Simply Red. For five days it has transformed itself into a watery nirvana for the swimmers of the world to exhibit their skills in short-course swimming. Short-course is the poor relation of its more urbane long-course sibling in so far as the latter is the recognised 50m Olympic format. However the 25m competition gives a real tub-thumping, foam bath feel to Swimming: combining multiple turns and explosive wall kicks to create a tempestuous spectacle of elite performance.

The first night began with an opening ceremony combining the athletes parade with dancers suspended from giant 10m diameter balloons over the pool deck. "Any of you kids want one of them balloons, then come and see me later," shouted the Lord Mayor of Manchester in his opening address. "Just bring your own foot pump." The pool deck itself had been built into a platform over the arena floor, complete with underwater lighting. Behind a black curtain at the end of the pool was a second warm-up pool. The installation for this had taken three weeks and was a substantial feat of engineering coupled with an imaginative use of an existing indoor space.

Read more of “Astonishing action at the World Swimming Championships”

I have been dancing for 15 years, starting out as a gymnast, I also trained in ballet. It was then I realised my ambition to focus on more contemporary styles. I studied at Lewisham College for 2 years and then gained my diploma in the performing arts at the London Studio Centre in Kings Cross. However, it was only when I left college that I found my real style which consists of Hip-Hop, traditional Jazz and BBoying/BGirl(Breaking) which I now specialise in - sometimes it’s life experiences that teach you real lessons.

In the past I’ve danced and toured with acts like Take That and Gabrielle but now I teach a group of girls in the Lambeth and Waterloo area.  They’ve been with me for approximately 2 years, and they’ve learnt different dance styles such as Breaking, Locking, Popping, Lindy Hop, House and Nustyle - which are more American styles of dance.

Our role in the Beijing Torch Relay celebrations came after performing at the South Bank Centre for the opening of Royal Festival Hall last year. That was a great experience for me but nothing could prepare us for what lay ahead, when I was asked to choreograph a piece for the passing of the Olympic Torch on 6 April...

Read more of “A dance of a lifetime”

On Sunday 6 April 2008, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Flame was relayed through the streets of London by some of the most iconic British names, ranging from sporting stars to TV personalities. A handful of Waltham Forest’s Olympic Youth Ambassadors were lucky enough to be there, invited to view the Relay from right outside Number 10:



Whilst we waited for Denise Lewis to arrive to pass on the Torch to Beijing Paralympic hopeful Ali Jawad, we were kept entertained by a stunning Chinese dragon display.

Read more of “Waltham Forest Youth Ambassadors at the London Torch relay”

Today I got to have my lunch early for a special reason. That reason was...

We went to the artroom to be involved in a special art project which involved us designing the Olympic Stadium. There were three others in my groups and five groups overall.

We had to use a variety of different materials to design our models: pipe cleaners, wire, clay, card, long cocktail sticks, modelling clay, glue, paint, staplers and a model board.

Read more of “Modelling the Olympic Stadium with pipe cleaners and cocktail sticks”

The atmosphere at the Get Set London roadshow in Stratford on Sunday was great. Beside performing (which obviously was the highlight for us) we really enjoyed getting involved in all the activities that were going on, particularly the fitness tests inside the tent where band member Steve managed to get a 29 point score in the jumping test (which beat World Record Holder Jonathan Edwards who only got 26 – that’s right!)

But mainly the whole day had a wonderful sense of community buzzing all around Stratford that made us look forward to 2012!

The most important part of course was performing in the talent show to win a spot in the Handover Celebrations in August.



We performed the songs 'Neon' and 'My Story Retold'. 'Neon' - the song that got us into the finals is about being alone in the big city that is Ol' London Town! It is a story of one boy’s journey home being blinded by the bright lights that surrounded him. We chose to perform this song because it celebrates a different side of the London that we know and love - a side not many people see! Our second song 'My Story Retold' is a very personal song, as it talks about our friends and the places we go with these people who make our lives complete and here we are telling our story again. We chose to perform this song because of the feel of community behind it that resonates so widely with the Games coming to London.

Read more of “Prize of a lifetime”

Last Friday was such a beautiful day, what a great day for the Get Set London roadshow to come to Brixton! When entering the pod I was amazed by all that equipment and people on hand to help. I think the activity around London 2012 really helps to address those issues of how we can get the youngsters of today and, in fact, all the public involved with sport and creating a community spirit though it.

It was great to see people at the event having fun and competing against each other on the rowing machine; I even saw the Mayor have a go as well.

Read more of “Getting the public involved”

Yesterday myself and Angela Salt (LOCOG Nations and Regions Coordinator) were up very early for a trip to Belfast. We arrived at the Stormont Hotel to a warm welcome from about 150 businesses. We were launching the London 2012 Business Network with the help of Invest Northern Ireland, the regional development agency for Northern Ireland.

There was a really enthusiastic response and lots of questions about the development of London 2012, as well as specific questions about upcoming procurements. Invest Northern Ireland had set up computer terminals around the room so that businesses could register on CompeteFor through the Business Network immediately after the event, which was excellent. 

One supplier from the area has recently been shortlisted for a procurement that would not normally have been advertised, so small but positive steps. We look forward to welcoming businesses to London in the future especially for our 'Meet the Buyer' event in the summer. 

London 2012 Business Network

I was one of LOCOG's volunteers for Sunday's Torch relay and will take away three personal memories the day:

The first was the outstanding enthusiasm and professionalism interspersed with several touches of often masochistic humour that I saw throughout from the hotel staff, the drivers, the LOCOG volunteers, the police and young people assisting in the relay organisation. Despite some challenges, I was (especially) proud to be working on this project yesterday with so many people who are all striving for the same objective.

The second was the down-to-earth warmth and good nature of the collection of celebrities, Olympians and other recognised relay runners. I am sure there were a few primadoonas out there, but I saw none of that yesterday and the likes of Tim Henman, Denise Van Outen and Sir Trevor MacDonald helped make several people’s day by endlessly taking part in photographs and signing autographs as well as helping to encourage those who were nervous or apprehensive about their run.

Especially, though, I will recall the excitement and enthusiasm of the other runners about running with the Olympic Torch. This collection of competition winners and those chosen for their bravery or achievements were all truly inspiring, but Brian Thomson from Glasgow will stand out for me. Brian fell off a balcony aged five and spent the next few weeks in a coma (his heart stopped twice), but he has since recovered well enough to take part in the last two Special Olympics winning three medals for judo.

He was in London yesterday with his whole family supporting him and they surprised him by revealing t-shirts with his photo and the message “Brian, our eternal flame” on the back. As they left the hotel to go out onto the streets to take part in and support the relay, I hoped he could treasure the unique moment properly.

We really loved representing East London in front of a home crowd in the final of the 2012 Talent competition. The audience was fantastic, getting really into the spirit of things and cheering. We were even asked to autograph our promo CDs, which made us feel like true stars!

The event really made it hit home how important London 2012 is going to be to the local area. Most importantly we loved the spirit of it all and just the thought of London hosting the Games in 2012 fills us with pride.



We always love performing as a band and this event was no exception! We played our song 'London Time' which really got the crowd going. It is such an anthemic and catchy number that is always a crowd pleaser. Moreover it is the song that started us off in the competition, and has always been one of the best received songs and much loved by Freerun fans.
 
Our favourite audience member had to be an elderly gentlemen who was rocking his head and bouncing his foot with a big smile on his face throughout our songs. It was awesome to see such a reaction from him and many others in the audience.

Read more of “Performing for a home crowd”

It was exciting to be a part of the buzz leading up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Get Set London attracted a great crowd in Stratford and the other acts hoping to perform live at the Handover celebration events in August were really good.

The performance got off to a bumpy start; the guitar mics were having trouble with feedback but I was determined to put on a good show, so I did the honourable thing and borrowed an electric guitar!

My first song 'Overboard' is the new single taken from my forthcoming album 'Fortune Teller' (out in July), and my second, 'Queen and Country', was written for London.

Read more of “Once in a life time performance”

It’s five years since I first got involved with the team at Transport for London tasked with thinking about how the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) would meet demand in 2012 if the London bid was successful. The team was headed by Hugh Sumner, now Director of Transport for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

Standing next to a DLR train:



My role was to develop initiatives that would help carry the millions of spectators to and from the four Games competition venues that are situated near the DLR network: the Olympic Park, the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, Greenwich Park and the ExCeL centre. These initiatives were in addition to the schemes already planned or funded through the £10bn five-year TfL Investment Programme, such as extensions to Woolwich Arsenal (opening in 2009) and Stratford International (opening in 2010), and the lengthening of DLR trains from two to three carriages across the network by 2010.

Read more of “DLR on track for 2012”

The Get Set roadshow at Kingston was an amazing success! I am just about to finish my second year as Mayor and so I was delighted to be able to attend. With the Sunday shoppers passing through and especially, the Kingston Breakfast Run taking place, it really did highlight what an exciting time London 2012 is for the people of Kingston, young kids, teenagers and adults alike!

The roadshow really supported the work of our community development teams, who are looking to encourage participation and widening opportunities in sport for everyone. There were some great interactive activities, along with plenty of information to show everyone how they could get involved. Surrounded and inspired by the activities, the event was a great motivator for people to take an interest in 2012. 

Me on the rowing machine:

It was such a surreal start to the day to wake up and find London sprinkled in snow and as we made our way to the Stratford Shopping centre, along the Jubilee line you could sense the excitement and anticipation.

There is always a good buzz at the Get Set London roadshows, created by all different types/ages of people getting involved and stopping by to see what's going on. As the 1st band set up a crowd started to gather and that's when things got really nerve-wracking!

It's one thing to get an audience dancing in a pub on a Friday night but it's a different matter on a Sunday afternoon, with kids in buggies and grandmas loaded up with carrier bags, playing for the chance to perform at the Handover celebration events in August. But it was great to see people not only stopping, but also getting out their mobile phones, taking photos and even having a little boogie!

Read more of “A boogie for everyone”

The first time that I did the high jump, I was 14 years old and had no idea that I would be any good. On my first jump I managed to clear the bar and also to break the school record. Now, I’m the current national champion representing my country at the Games in Beijing! It is for this reason that I wanted to wholeheartedly support the Get Set London roadshow, because I understand how important taking part in sport can be and what the Games could mean for London.

The Get Set London roadshow has been touring around the capital, promoting the Games and also offering the residents within each borough the opportunity to find out about how they can get involved, as well as what each borough offers with regard to sporting and cultural facilities. It arrived at the Paddington Recreation Ground in Westminster on the 2nd April, a lovely park near to Maida Vale tube station. The borough is particularly important to me as I live there and even train in the grounds where the roadshow took place.

The facilities there are superb and we’re extremely lucky to have them. The roadshow showcased these facilities excellently, with the opportunity to test your skills at Volleyball, Football, Archery, Tennis and Athletics, among other sports. I actually took a few kids through some Athletics training sessions which they all seemed to enjoy.

Giles Long (second left), me and Jonathan Edwards learning about Archery:

Read more of “You don't realise how much is going on”

It was the last event of our Get Set London Roadshow, coinciding with the Beijing Torch Relay visiting London and a huge dump of snow. It was going to be an exciting day.

Snow hadn’t stopped the transport and it certainly wasn’t dampening the spirit of the Newham residents - they were determined to enjoy the day. Walking out of the station I was immediately met with lots of sport activities busy with kids dry rowing (debatable yesterday!) and canoeing in the thick of this white flurry. They had the right idea that the more energy they put into it and the louder they shouted the warmer they became.

Read more of “Warm hearts melted the big chill”

Yesterday I joined LOCOG colleagues as a volunteer for the Beijing Torch Relay. This was my day in pictures...

A snowy start to the day - passing Ealing Common:



Wembley Stadium - where the Relay began:



Sir Steve Redgrave carries the Torch out of the Stadium:

Read more of “Beijing Torch Relay - my day in pictures”

Waking up on Sunday morning to snow falling – I thought to myself… this is a first. Having been involved in many of the landmark London 2012 events, from the bid celebrations to IOC visits – never before had snow been a factor!

Still though, with my thermals under my volunteer uniform, off I went to central London to do my bit for the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay. We were looking after the Torchbearers at the hotels before they started their run. Other LOCOG people were on the buses with them before and after their run.
 
Being a volunteer for a major event like this is a great experience. Whether it is fetching water for Paula Radcliffe, sharing a table with Sir Trevor MacDonald or watching Theo Walcott relax after holding the Torch - there were some great opportunities for star spotting.

Read more of “An inspirational day with the Torch”

Take a look at the latest aerial images from the Olympic Park. They show the progress that has been made to clean and clear the area ready for the start of construction.

1. Aquatics Centre - located in the south east corner of the Olympic Park, the Aquatics Centre will be the 'gateway' to the Park during the Games. Work to rebuild the river walls is progressing with more than 650 metres completed:



2. The Energy Centre will generate hot water, heating, electricity and cooling to homes and buildings in the Park:



3. International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre - around 9,000 cubic metres of soil has been taken away from the site to prepare the platform for construction:

Read more of “Latest images: aerial shots from Olympic Park”

This is what you see from a thousand feet above the 2012 Stadium.  As the ODA Filming Manager it's one of my jobs to point out the best bits to take photos of - right now the Stadium is it.



There have been so many changes in just a few months, demolition of old buildings, digging out of the contaminated soil and preparation of the building platform:



Now there's the clear shape of the bowl cut into the ground and it's the first real visual clue to how this space will turn into an Olympic Stadium in just over four years.

The London Wildlife Trust (LWT) is working with London 2012 and other partners on an exciting environmental project on Newham's Greenway.

Recently a group of LWT volunteers and I had a fantastic time helping local schoolchildren plant wild flowers at East Marsh Wildlife Corridor - a new nature reserve in the Olympic Park.

Read more of “'I’ve never seen anyone so excited about a worm'”

As active members of an NGO representing the Turkish community, many of our members had expressed their doubts that there would be opportunities for them to take part or benefit from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
 
On the 25th March 2008, London 2012 invited members of the Turkish community to a seminar explaining the opportunities that were available for all communities and businesses in London. 

Read more of “Opportunities for all”

Last Friday I invited the ODA’s Head of Procurement, Morag Stuart, to my constituency of Waveney to speak to local businesses about what opportunities the London 2012 Games have to offer them. I wanted her to come because in spite of the huge range of contracts available to businesses of all sizes, not one business in Suffolk has secured a contract yet.

At the meeting, local business representatives discovered the level of contracts up for grabs in the East of England, and the fact that, already, regional businesses had won 50 Games-related contracts.

I wanted local businesses to have every opportunity to win work and employment for our area, and Morag showed that there are real possibilities for some of them. One Lowestoft company hoping to win work already supplies goalposts to all the top football and rugby grounds in the country, including Wembley.

Read more of “Spreading the benefits of London 2012 around the country”

Recently, I had the opportunity to present the latest designs for the Olympic Stadium to a technical fora as part of public consultation ahead of the second planning submission in May. The focus of the event was to explore the issues surrounding the themes of sustainability, accessibility and inclusion, security, equality, and safety. These are in relation to the Stadium design, and how it has evolved since it was last presented in November last year.
 
First up was John Armitt showing the great progress that has already been made on site, with the formation in the ground of the enormous bowl that will eventually form the lower tier to the Stadium seating. Ian Crockford, project sponsor, followed by congratulating the team on the first planning approval gained the previous evening, before encouraging everyone to be as open as possible with their conversations in the fora itself.

Doing my presentation at the technical fora:

Read more of “Presenting designs for Olympic Stadium”

Friday and Saturday there was no better place to be than Manchester Velodrome for the World Track Cycling Championships! 

The atmosphere was electric and so too was the GB performance with both girls and guys on top form. 

Starting a race:



Friday evening saw Victoria Pendleton heading for gold with her performance in the sprint race and the Women's 3000m team and individual pursuits were won by GB. 

Chris Hoy exuded incredible power and determination as he took Gold in the Sprint Final in electrifying style. The sound of the crowd cheering reverberated in the arena and even a member of the broadcast crew got into the swing of the event clad in full lycra!

Read more of “It's not about the bike! (It's all about the lycra)”

Today is the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA) 2nd Birthday. Two year olds are known for being very lively, self confident and of course a bit bolshy.

Well we are certainly the first, have good reason to be the second and are hopefully not too much of the third. I am a newcomer with only seven months under my belt, but in those seven months I have seen the ODA build on the excellent work done in its first 18 months and be on course to hit various Beijing 2008 milestones.

Read more of “Happy Birthday ODA”

This Easter weekend Hounslow was the host to the Get Set London roadshow.

On a rainy Easter Monday the roadshow arrived at the Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre on Chiswick High Road.

From 10am there was a steady stream of fathers doing their Bank Holiday duty and bringing their kids along to see what the roadshow had to offer! The roadshow was as informative as ever and the staff were extremely helpful with providing information on how the people of Hounslow could benefit from the Olympics now, and in the run up to 2012. 

They also did their utmost to encourage gym goers to test out some of the sports equipment that Olympians use on a day-to-day basis.

Read more of “A fun Easter weekend”

Hello from Lausanne. Everyone is here, everyone! Not just anti-doping representatives from International Federations ranging from Athletics to Weightlifting, but also non-Olympic sports from darts to minigolf to waterski! LOCOG and VANOC (the Vancouver 2010 Organising Committee) are here too.

The first day of the conference was designed to bring the world of sport together to discuss areas of concern, to share experiences and learn from one another.

The conference kicked off with a presentation of the main revisions of the revised WADA World Anti-Doping Code. One of the main changes is that sanctions will have greater flexibility and, in this time of concern about the need to have tougher sanctions, the Code permits lengthier sanctions for serious offences.

Read more of “At the Anti-Doping Conference”