January 2009

On a very wet and windy morning last Friday, some colleagues and I made our way to an extremely wet and muddy area of Weaver Fields – the location for the launch of 'Trees for the Hosts'.

The launch of Trees for the Hosts was a special day for the LOCOG Sustainability Team, as it not only marked the first project to be delivered as part of the London 2012 Local Environment Programme but is also the first project to receive the 'Inspire mark' within the environment category.

Read more of “'Cracking the whip' for an inspirational environment”

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Find out about the progress we've made on the 10 milestones we set to achieve by 27 July 2009.

Read more of “Video: Progress on construction”

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We're currently showing this video of highlights from 2008 on giant screens across the UK. Enjoy!

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It was great to have the opportunity to visit the Olympic Park site with the Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) Seb Coe and see the great progress being made towards London 2012. It seems like yesterday that we won the bid, but in the same time moving forward we will be staging the Games.

Read more of “Impressed with progress on a unique Park site”

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It's not often you can start a blog post like that. London 2012 organised a major Parliamentary Reception, along the lovely terrace of the House of Commons. Putting the event together was surprisingly straight-forward – choosing a theme ('Putting Athletes At The Heart Of The Games'), designing a great invitation card, persuading Derek Wyatt MP to host the event for us under the auspices of the All-Party London 2012 Group and then inviting every single MP and Peer across the land to come and talk to London 2012, our sponsors and some of the best Olympians and Paralympians from the Beijing Games.

Read more of “'I’ve lost my pheasant!' - a London 2012 parliamentary reception”

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We recently hit a key transport target when we lifted a huge bridge into place to create a new entrance and exit at Stratford International Station - a gateway station to the Olympic Park.

A 1,000-tonne crane lifts the bridge into place overnight:


 

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I have never been on holiday straight after Christmas, but I tell you what, I would highly recommend it. While my esteemed colleagues were back at work after the Christmas break, I jetted off on holiday to Las Vegas for four days of fun before trying to burn off the excesses in a week’s skiing in Park City, Utah - one of the venues for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2002.

An illuminated sign for Park City, Olympic Venue City 2002:


The entrance for Park City:

Read more of “A busman’s holiday - a trip to a Winter Games Host City”

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My experience at The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was fantastic.

This experience gave me a clear understanding of working life as well as a good understanding of organising a big event such as the London 2012 Games.

I was able to develop my skills and learn lots of new ones. I worked in different departments within the office and got a clear understanding of what they do. This experience has helped me develop my confidence and my communication skills. I have also learnt how to use different programs on the computer.

Read more of “Work experience at London 2012”

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This week the ODA's Director of Design and Regeneration Alison Nimmo and I hosted a visit for a group of athletes from the Special Olympics World Winter Games who are preparing to head off to Idaho to compete in February. The 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho will host almost 3,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from more than 100 countries from 7-13 February 2009. During the seven-day event, athletes will compete in seven winter sport events including: Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Figure Skating, Floor Hockey, Snowboarding, Snowshoeing, and Speed Skating.

This was such a memorable morning and...

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Today is an important anniversary for us because it is the mid-point between winning the bid to become Host City and the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games in July 2012.

Read more of “Celebrating the halfway mark”

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Today marks the exact point between London winning the bid for the 2012 Games and the Opening Ceremony in July 2012. These before and after images show just how far we have come since that fantastic day back in July 2005 when London was awarded the Games.

This image shows how the Olympic Stadium site looked before demolition had started on any of the 33 buildings on the site:

Read more of “London 2012 is halfway there”

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It was great to see the new Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension to Woolwich Arsenal open yesterday. It will be an important north-south transport link for the London 2012 Games.

Seeing this progress made me feel privileged to have worked for the railway when it opened just over 20 years ago in 1987. I don't think any of us managers could have predicted that the DLR would grow so big, prove so useful and offer so much to large swathes of east and south-east London!

Her Majesty The Queen on board one of the first DLR trains at its official...

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I was lucky enough to buy tickets to an evening of second round matches this week at the British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Championship. It was my third time at the Lakeside Country Club – the ‘home of World Darts’. That’s the Lakeside in Frimley Green, just south of London, not the shopping centre!

Lakeside:

Read more of “Should darts be an Olympic sport?”

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Find out about the plans and achievements on the Olympic Village as construction comes out of the ground on the first blocks.

Read more of “Video: plans and achievements on the Olympic Village”

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Here are the latest images showing progress on the foundations of the Olympic Village.

Tower cranes one and two are up and running over the first residential building plot on the Village. There will be a total of 22 tower cranes on the Village by summer 2009:

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Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting just some of the 23 new Trailblazer volunteers at the London 2012 Organising Committee.

In 2012, there will be up to 70,000 people volunteering their services for the Games. But less well known are the office-based volunteers who give up their time in the years leading up to the Games. In Vancouver, there are already 500 people doing this work.

The 23 individuals that joined us yesterday are Trailblazers in the true sense of the word. This is a pilot scheme that allows us to make sure we are building a programme...

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Something I’ve learned in the seven months I’ve been managing licensing here at London 2012 is that the Games rumour mill could probably give Usain Bolt a run for his money with the speed it turns. This week has seen a couple of stories in the papers concerning a commemorative ceramics contract which – according to the stories I’ve seen – has been awarded to a Chinese company.

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The 'Famous Five' Host Boroughs next to the Olympic Park (Hackney, Waltham Forest, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets and Newham) may well be the heart of the Games but just slightly further east lies the London Borough of Redbridge. Recently I was honoured to help the local community show off its support for the London 2012 Games by demonstrating how the legacy of the Games is really working in the outer Boroughs and off the Olympic Park.

Read more of “Enterprising outer Boroughs – legacy now in action”

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