London 2012 blog

On my recent visit to Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy, I was encouraged by the huge progress that has been made on the enhanced sailing facilities. As soon as you arrive on site, you can see the transformation that has taken place since we marked the start of construction in Spring 2008:

Read more of “Work is quickly progressing on Sailing venue”

We've had a great response for the ballot for the Visa London 2012 party, happening on The Mall on 24 August to celebrate the moment the Olympic Flag is handed over from Beijing to London and we start welcoming the world for our Games.

We will, of course, be celebrating in style, with top acts, Olympians and lots of special guests. It will all be broadcast live on the BBC One and Radio 2.

If you haven't applied yet do it now! The ballot closes this Wednesday, 2 July, at noon.

Register for tickets

Today I was down at East Marsh next to the Olympic Park, to see a replicated archaeology dig. This is part of our three-week programme with local schools to get them involved in the history of their local area by sharing what we have discovered and found on the Olympic Park site as we develop it.

Students started with a 'blanket dig' where archaeologists set up artefacts from different periods of history on different blankets. The blankets are removed layer-by-layer to uncover each period – starting with a deflated football, orange peel and a tin can from the current period through helmets from WWII, a coin from Roman times and human remains from the Iron Age. Fascinating stuff! They also learnt some of the skills of an archaeologist like sorting and washing finds with a toothbrush ready for closer examination. They unearthed pottery from different periods including a piece they thought was a bottle stopper. They seemed particularly interested in finding animal bones.

The blanket dig:

Read more of “Discovering local history at East Marsh”

Yesterday I was at BAFTA for the unveiling of the UK's favourite Olympic Champions and a new National Lottery Scratchcard.

It was great. Sports presenter Hazel Irvine was hosting, representatives from the National Lottery plus Tessa Jowell were also on hand to explain how much money has been raised by the special London 2012 National Lottery Games and what the money is being used for.

Hazel revealed the six champions, as voted for in a special poll, in the style of 'A Question of Sport', with a massive picture you don't see all of until the last square. As they were revealed one by one they came on stage to reveal the next one.

So who were they?!

Read more of “Inspiration in the form of the UK’s official Olympic Champions”

So I find myself on a beautiful sunny day in June at the Lee Valley Festival, in my role as compere for the Get Set London roadshow - and what a show it was! Our massive yellow pod was managing to attract all kinds of visitors - of all ages. Our team was ready to handle the questions, excitement and interaction from everyone. The Batak proved very popular as usual with children and parents alike testing their hand eye co-ordination, but the record of 54 hits in 30 seconds by Dan - in charge of the green screen photos - held firm!

It's difficult to explain just how "positive" everything was today. The families, the dancing, the music. It was great to see London as London can be. People from different backgrounds, people with disabilities, people of different ages all having fun together. Everyone getting the London 2012 buzz and challenging themselves to get involved, especially after meeting Judy Oakes OBE with her amazing medals from a glittering career.

I was lucky to be right in the thick of it for most of the day. Be it with the rowing machine relay race, (which looked brilliant) or marvelling at a 50 year old gent leading the Ruff Diamond dance company. Amazing! All good things must come to an end though. I left feeling emotionally re-charged and full of the Games positivity!



Next stop the Respect Festival in Brent on Sunday 6th July. See you there!

During the London 2012 Games, Villa Park stadium in Birmingham will host part of the Football competition. 

Obviously the Transport team in Birmingham and at Villa Park stadium already have well-oiled transport plans in place for the regular season. However, a Football competition that is part of the world’s biggest sporting event will have a slightly different twist.

On Friday, I met with the Birmingham City Council’s Taskforce for 2012 to talk about how its usual transport plans for the Football competition could be tweaked for the Games, reflecting both the matches and cultural events.

While most football matches traditionally kick-off at 3pm on a Saturday, matches at Villa Park during the Games will be played mid-week. It is also likely that instead of just one match each day, there could be some 'double-headers'. Matches will be played at different times of the day and there will also likely be cultural events that will draw a lot of interest and crowds.
 
Aston Villa and Birmingham City in action at Villa Park earlier this year:

Read more of “The same game plan – with a twist”

The last few days has seen a flurry of Games-related activity in North and East London as part of the Lee Valley Festival.

The North London Strategic Alliance (a partnership between the London Boroughs of Enfield, Haringey, Waltham Forest and Barnet) drew together an exciting programme of new and existing activity in support of the Games, with the assistance of a grant from the London Development Agency, aimed at helping residents from across that part of London understand the opportunities that the Loondon Games offers them.

On Thursday I visited 'Go Enfield Go' - a sports tournament for almost 1,000 Year Six students from across the borough. Each school took on the identity of one of the nations competing at the Olympic or Paralympic Games with the flags of Costa Rica, Israel and Brazil seen streaming down the home straight before the final 8x50m relays.

Read more of “A busy week in North East London”

Last Monday morning I was up early to be at the ICA to take part in the launch of the handover plans for August 24th (well, early for me: my internal clock is still set on theatre time, so while I can work late into the night, I'm not at my best before at least 10.30am).

It's nice to be able to drop the 'cloak and dagger' business around the plans for the launch - we've been working on all this for some months now but have managed to keep it quiet until now (give or take the odd leak in the preceding week).

We've spent some time in the studio already, workshopping ideas with dancers from the three groups which will make up the unique company performing in Beijing and it's really exciting to be part of such a diverse and talented group of artists from the amazing CanDoCo and ZooNation.

Read more of “Excited by the collaboration of dance talent”

Last week me and my classmates came and saw the design work we did for the big boards around the Olympic Park site - the hoardings. We arrived at Stratford and a bus took us to Hackney Wick Community Centre where we met other schools who had also won the competition. We looked at all the designs and pictures that had been made.

Me (centre) and my classmates:

Read more of “Seeing our design on Olympic Park hoardings”

It’s good to get out of the office occasionally and see the infrastructure for London 2012 taking shape. On Wednesday, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) team showed a few of us from the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Transport team around some of its project sites. As well as improving transport connections generally in east London, these latest DLR projects will help thousands of people get to the Games more easily.

Our first stop was the DLR station under construction at Woolwich Arsenal, which will serve the Shooting events at the The Royal Artillery Barracks. The station is large for the DLR. It spans three levels and will be staffed and gated. It will also give step-free access to the main line Southeastern station. The DLR extension from King George V to Woolwich Arsenal via the new Thames tunnel is due to open in early 2009.

Me at Woolwich Arsenal:

Read more of “Transport progress: helping people get to the Games easily”

With the Stadium site changing so rapidly I thought I'd check back to March to pinch myself and remember what the view looked like then. Brace yourself because, like me, you might think you are looking at something else!

Beginning of March

Just over three months ago there wasn't even a clear shape to the Stadium bowl:

Read more of “Latest photos: a lot's changed over the last four months”

It's not often that you get to celebrate a 10th, 20th and 30th 'anniversary' in the space of two weeks but then working at London 2012 is anything but ordinary. The anniversaries in question were our very first applications for the Inspire programme – itself a first in many respects, not least for giving real recognition to non-commercial projects and events bringing the benefits of the Games to the whole UK in the run up to and beyond 2012.

Already the range of projects and events couldn't be more diverse – or more inspired. Many will form part of London's four-year Cultural Olympiad which launches in September this year. Others will help deliver the Games' wider lasting 'legacy'.

What really stands out is that four years out from 2012, the Games are already inspiring non-commercial organisations right across the UK to work in new ways - working with new audiences, trying new mediums and forging partnerships where there just wasn’t the impetus to previously.

Information about the Inspire programme is now available at www.london2012.com/beinspired, including the basic criteria and contact details.

What a coincidence to be sharing a train journey to Bristol with academics from Bristol University who had been assisting a community consultation exercise at Hackney Wick adjacent to the Olympic Park!

I was in Bristol to give a paper on the Olympic Park at the GreenSpace conference, 'Parks for Life', which is part of the national programme 'Love Parks Week'. The conference focused on the potential for parks and green spaces to improve health and well-being.At the conference we heard from Annie Volkering, Deputy General Manager of Parks Victoria. They have placed health and well-being at the top of their parks agenda with great success. Their mantra and strapline is 'Healthy Parks, Healthy People'.

Read more of “Ship shape and Bristol fashion”

Recently, my children asked me if I would go to their primary school to talk about the London 2012 Games during their Health Week, which incorporated the annual sports day and a discussion and workshops
around the Games.

When I was at school it was very clear in my mind that being a teacher was not for me, so presenting in front of a school was not something I initially felt excited about!

Also, working in the Transport department, I wondered how could I inspire young children to be involved in the Games?

When I thought more about the opportunity to share my experiences first hand, and be part of inspiring kids to participate in the Games, I began to look forward to the chance.

Read more of “Transport goes to School”

Wow! In a way I am glad I didn't know too much beforehand about the Handover press conference on Monday. From the moment I arrived it hit me just how big being a part of this once in a lifetime opportunity was going to be.

I was quickly informed that I was going to be needed to say a few words in the press conference to represent CandoCo Dance Company and its involvement in both the Olympic and Paralympic Handover Ceremony in Beijing this Summer.

The way that the London 2012 team has chosen to have the same performers in both ceremonies is ground breaking. To have an opportunity as a contemporary dancer with a disability to be a part of an eclectic artistic team performing alongside the Royal Ballet and Zoo Nation - merging very different disciplines of dance to find one common voice to represent London and the UK - shows how diversity in the English culture is our strength as a nation. I am proud and honoured to be a part of this.

Read more of “Handover Announcement”

We have been at Eton Manor since December 2007 and we are involved in training people to use construction machinery (diggers, trucks etc). When setting up the National College of Construction for East London site we required large amounts of crushed brick to form stock piles incorporating ramps for training purposes. So when the North Park Contractor took us around the Park looking at various stock pile heaps to see what would suit, we saw several buildings were in the process of demolition and lots of materials were being crushed and screened.

Myself and Plant Training Manager, Andy were very interested at the time in all the works being carried out and how the skyline was changing with all the demolition works going on. Several months down the line we had another tour of the Park also including Colin, the Senior Instructor of Plant Mechanics within the college and the transformation within the seven months is unbelievable.

The skyline has dramatically changed with most demolition now complete and access roads being completed at pace. As industry people, it was great  to see all the excavation works being carried out by the different companies and machines.

Myself and Andy really enjoyed the opportunity to re-tour the Park and Colin loved the opportunity to visit the Park for the very first time.

The preparations for the 2012 Games seems to be a hot topic of conversation among many people, so you can imagine our delight when we had a confirmed tour date of the new development. Members from the Association of Building Engineers (ABE) were given the opportunity to attend either the morning or afternoon tour. There was significant interest in the tour which meant that the majority of available places were filled.

The tour offered a great insight into the masterplan of regeneration for the area. The tour guide gave a very thorough and informative account of this and provided examples of how sustainability is a key factor within the Park.

It was fascinating to discover that not only will the area provide a prestigious venue for the London 2012 Games; it will also supply housing, a commercial development, retail, leisure and entertainment facilities, offices, hotels and community facilities. The sheer scale of the Park is vast and the proposed plans for the grounds are astounding.

Read more of “2012 Olympic Park Tour”

Today, I got the opportunity to interview some adidas athletes many of whom, are hopefuls for Beijing. Athletes included BMX rider Shanaze Reade, diver Tom Daley (who I met for the second time this week), cyclist Victoria Pendleton, Modern Pentathlete Heather Fell and swimmer Xavier Mohammed. 

Many of them were involved in the launch of the new adidas Team GB kit, and came into LOCOG to hear more about what adidas has got planned for the next few months as a sponsor of the London 2012 Games. They also had the chance to find out more about what LOCOG are planning, particularly the education programme. After posing for many shots in front of the cameras I was able to grab them for a quick chat. 

Read more of “Meeting the adidas athletes”

It has recently been confirmed that Natalia Partyka from Poland will compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Table Tennis in Beijing 2008. Since 1997, she has been a member of two table tennis clubs – one for the disabled and one for the able-bodied.



She competed in her first Paralympic Games in Sydney after winning her first table tennis medal in the disabled World Championships of 1999. She became unique in the sport when in the same year, 2004 she won her first elite medals in both able-bodied and disabled events: she won 2 golds in the European Championships for Cadets (ITTF) and silver in the team event in the Athens Paralympic Games.

This outstanding duality continued in 2006 with 3 gold medals European Paralympic Championships and 1 gold and 2 silver medals at the IPC Table Tennis World Championships for Disabled in Monteux 2006 and a silver medal at the ITTF European Junior Championship in the team event).

Read more of “Natalia: Paralympic AND Olympic athlete”

Yesterday, we launched a new education resource designed to encourage schools and colleges across the UK to celebrate Paralympic Handover on Wednesday 17 September.

Launching the new resources - Front: Young Ambassadors James and Jasmine; Back L-R: Brenda, Primary School Headteacher; Nick, Head of Education; Ade Adeptian; and Seb Coe



On 17 September, at approximately 2.45pm, the Paralympic Flag will be handed from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, signalling the moment that London becomes the next Host City and our four year build-up to the Games.

Paralympic Handover takes place in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon so London 2012 is asking schools and colleges across the UK to mark this special moment in some way.

We've produced a new online resource, now available at www.london2012.com/paralympichandover, to help schools and colleges develop their own plans and celebrations.

Read more of “Schools and colleges: celebrate Paralympic Handover with us!”

I recently had the pleasure of joining two of my Canadian Olympic Committee colleagues (Betty Dermer-Norris, our Director, Team Operations and Derek Covington, our Director, Olympic Preparation) on the COC’s second site visit to London in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games. We were incredibly impressed by the progress LOCOG has made since our last visit to London.

We were are also very pleased with the warm welcome we received from the LOCOG staff we met with during our visit. Our day consisted of meetings with NOC Relations, Sport, Accommodation, Media Relations and Marketing, as well as a site visit to the very busy Olympic Park construction site. We were able to glean significant information to assist our preparations as a result of each of these meetings.

Read more of “Canadian Olympic Committee visits LOCOG”

Yesterday was a great experience and opportunity to share ideas and experiences with high profile athletes and organisers of the London 2012 Olympic  and Paralympic Games.
I took part in the official launch of a new Education Programme and Paralympic Handover website at the London 2012 offices at Canary Wharf.

Read more of “Education Programme Launch”

This morning I was at The Mall to tell people about tickets for the 'Visa london 2012 party' happening on 24 August. I was there as part of the announcement about the celebrations that are going to take place around the UK after the Handover Ceremony in Beijing.

I was really nervous beforehand - the room was full of media, sponsors and staff. Tom Daley (the diver) and I went up on stage together, which was good - it was nice to be up there with someone else.

As well as telling people to go to www.london2012.com/tickets to register to go into the ballot for the free party, I also told everyone about our Live Sites - big screens that are going to be in every nation and region of the UK showing action from Beijing, the Closing Ceremony and then the concert.

I felt good afterwards - everyone told me I did alright!

Me and Tom:

Read more of “Announcing the Visa london 2012 party to the world”

I was pleased to speak this week to the CBI Business Summit in central London.

With around 250 representatives from British and international firms, it was a good opportunity to let employers know of the business benefits that have come about because of our hosting the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.



At LOCOG we have a budget to stage the Games of just over £2 billion. This is raised privately and does not come from taxpayers or National Lottery, unlike the money invested by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) in regeneration and venue construction around the Olympic Park.

So far we have had great success.

Read more of “The CBI Business Summit”

Yesterday senior figures from London 2012 including ODA Chief Executive David Higgins and LOCOG Chair Seb Coe spoke at the CBI Business Summit in London. The theme was London 2012 and how businesses can maximise the opportunities generated by hosting the Games in London.

ODA Chief Executive, David Higgins speaking at the event:



An audience of over 200 delegates were able to learn more about the range of opportunities to construct and stage the Games and also found out how to access these opportunities.

Visit the London 2012 Business Network to find out about London 2012 Business opportunities

I work at Eton Manor, National College of Construction. The College provides courses on operating telescopic handlers, rough terrain forklifts, backhoe loaders, excavators and dump trucks.

I am a qualified telescopic handler, articulated dump truck and wheel loading shovel driver:

Read more of “Qualifying at the National College of Construction”

Around 450 students from 17 schools across the five Host Boroughs of Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest took part in a programme of design workshops inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The programme was delivered by artists from Signs of Life (a local social enterprise) at the Bromley by Bow Centre. Students of all abilities and ages worked with photography, creative writing, collage, model-making, footprints and wheelchair tracks, ceramics and paint to produce the designs, a number of which are featured on the community hoardings along the Hackney Wick towpath.

The Signs of Life team of artists hit the ground running with this exciting project. We are still catching our breath after such a fantastic launch event yesterday when the students came to see their artwork on the hoardings! The hoardings look incredible, with the artwork taking on a new dimension at such a great size.

The Signs of Life team, with athlete Jonathan Edwards (third from left) and Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chief Executive David Higgins (third from right) by the hoardings:

Read more of “Community aspirations changing, along with the skyline”

Yesterday the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) held an event to celebrate the artwork produced by children from 17 different schools in the five Host Boroughs (Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest), which is being displayed along the Hackney Wick towpath by the Olympic Park.

Earlier this year, the ODA and Tower Hamlets-based social enterprise Signs of Life worked with the primary, secondary and special needs schools in a creative engagement programme to design the images which are now on display.

Here you can see pictures from the event and the artwork on display along the towpath:

Read more of “Latest images: children's artwork displayed around the Park”

You may have read in the papers last week that workers on the British Waterways construction site at Prescott Lock, just to the south of the Olympic Park, discovered a 2,200-pound unexploded World War II bomb.
 
The device was discovered by construction workers on the British Waterways project while they were clearing out earth from the waterways. 

Read more of “Latest photos: World War II bomb”

Homerton Baptist Church visited the Olympic Park on Tuesday 27 May. Pastor Steven Richards had arranged the visit for a number of his parishioners. It was a mixed group ranging from schoolchildren to the retired. Judging by the enthusiasm shown and a gratefully received pot plant at the end, they all enjoyed the tour and are looking forward to coming back in six months time to see the progress made on the Park.

Three of the younger members of the party share their memories of the day:

Andrea, 10

When we went on the tour we went around all the different places and I was surprised at how big it was. We were told where different things were going to be. We saw where the main Stadium was.

The waterways are going to be cleaned up and they should make the Olympic Park look very nice when it is finished. They have washed 1.5 million cubic metres of soil. They have found all sorts of things like skeletons and Roman coins and part of a Roman road, World War Two gun placements. I am really interested in history so I found this really interesting. I’m really looking forward to the next trip.

A Roman coin found on the Olympic Park:

Read more of “Homerton Baptist Church: visit to Olympic Park”

The position of the future Olympic Village

The Olympic Village is immediately to the north of the new Stratford International station and the line that takes the High Speed 1 train from London to Europe:



Zooming in

In this image you can see some of the site detail more clearly including the first of the piling rigs. These will insert concrete columns up to 24 metres in length to reinforce the ground where the first blocks of the Olympic Village will sit:



Piling to create the foundations

The piling works will form the permanent foundations for the first blocks of the Olympic Village:



Looking into the future

This is the latest artist's impression of the Olympic Village. During the Games, the Village will provide 17,000 beds for athletes and officials and 7,500 in the Paralympic Games. After the Games, the Village will provide up to 3,500 new homes:

Engaging with businesses who want to be involved in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is one of the key elements of the ODA Supply Chain team’s role, where I work.

On Friday, 30 May representatives of the Supply Chain Team including Lee Taylor, Mark Lawrenson and myself along with the ODA’s Community Liaison Manager, Gemma Rapson headed off with the ODA exhibition stand and a selection of various handouts to the leafy town of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. We were there to attend the 2nd annual Broxbourne Business Fair to meet local businesses and tell them how they might get explore opportunities for involvement in the London 2012 Games:

Read more of “London 2012 opportunities: Broxbourne Business Fair”

Yesterday, eight London 2012 staffers joined what seemed like several thousand other workers from Canary Wharf to go running after work. The Canary Wharf Jog does exactly what it says on the tin - it's an organised 'up-to-10k' run open to people of all abilities. To increase participation, there's no entry fee for the event - and everyone wore the distinctive red t-shirt supplied by the British Heart Foundation.

Being sport obsessives - and working for an organisation led by Seb Coe - the London2012ers were first across the start line and set out at a blistering pace, hoping to speed our way to personal bests. This was thwarted within about four minutes - the route was actually eight laps of the same tiny course, so we were lapping stragglers and caught up in crowds after just one loop.

At first the congestion of people was annoying, as we had to dodge slower runners and walkers. But it dawned that this was actually what we are all about - inspiring those not used to physical activity to try something new, and mixing them with regular runners passionate about their sport. In 2012, let's see how many people we can inspire to unshackle themselves from their Canary Wharf desks and try this out in the summer of 2012.

The warm glow we felt at being part of something worthwhile was helped by a supply of free bananas at the end, and an almost-barmily hot sunny evening. Same time next year?

This video was filmed at the ODA's Accessible Transport event which marked the publication of the first edition of the Accessible Transport Strategy.

Out in Athens at the SportAccord International Sports Convention, the IOC have just announced the four candidate cities for the 2016 Olympic Games. Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro are all still in the running; Doha, Azerbaijan's Baku and the Czech capital Prague fell at the first hurdle.

The Candidate Cities must now compile an in-depth file of their Olympic project and submit themselves to a visit by the IOC's Evaluation Commission. The election of the Host City of the 2016 Games will take place on 2 October 2009 at the IOC Session in Copenhagen.

I remember all too well the elation of having made it through to the next stage – and the immediate hard work that all four cities will have to put in to their Candidate files, which, if they’re successful, will form the essence of their Olympic Games. They are all worthy candidates, each capable of offering something special to the Games mix. May the best city win!

I am a Family Service Assistant at the Royal National Institute of Blind People and a guide dog user. My wonderful guide dog is called Nadia.

I live in London and use public transport a lot to go to work and to other places. I was at Canary Wharf recently and met Mark Todd, who is the Olympic Delivery Authority’s Principal Access & Inclusion Officer. He asked me if I had any suggestions for the Accessible Transport Strategy that was being developed for the London 2012 Games.

This was a great opportunity to give my ideas on how to make transport more accessible. I hope that by talking to people who benefit from more accessible transport, London 2012 can help to make improvements for the Games. I had quite a few good ideas about how transport could be made more accessible.

For example, improved signage can help people with visual impairments, and also tourists, find their way around on the Underground. Sometimes I find that the directions are not always easy to understand or there are not enough signs. Transport is also more accessible when trains, buses and other modes run on time because it reduces overcrowding on the platform.

Read more of “My ideas on how to make transport more accessible”

With the marvellous surroundings of the London Transport Museum as a backdrop, we launched the London 2012 Accessible Transport Strategy last Thursday night. The event went well and we played host to over 200 guests. They included our transport stakeholders and groups that we had consulted with to develop the strategy.

LOCOG Chief Executive, Paul Deighton and ODA Chairman, John Armitt speak at the event:



'All Change' sets out what we plan to do to help ensure high-quality, accessible public transport options are available for all sections of the community, especially disabled people.

This is a challenge, but we must strive to achieve our goal of hosting an inclusive public transport Games.

Read more of “Ensuring accessible transport for disabled people”

Being a bit of a cycling fan, I was an obvious candidate for our Cycling and Walking Manager to volunteer me for the Newham's 'Ride and Stride' cycling and walking event held last Saturday (he was unable to attend due to his dad’s 60th birthday apparently - poor excuse).

This was an event to launch Newham’s guide to walking and cycling (taking in the Olympic Park and other interesting and historic sites) and aims to encourage walking and cycling amongst local residents.

The event (which also commemorated the date of the first known bike race which took place in Paris in 1868) started off with a quick briefing on top of Stratford shopping centre multi-storey. This is actually an excellent viewpoint to take in the Olympic Park and the developments happening at Stratford City.

Before the cycle ride:

Read more of “Newham Ride and Stride”