An early start this morning for the fast train to Cambridge and the meeting of the London 2012 consortia in the east of England. All the regions in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, have a group which works on getting the most of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in their area. I try to go to as many as I can to get a good feel for what is happening locally and regionally as it’s only too easy to see things just from a London perspective – even for a northerner like me!
In the east of England there’s a great plan with some very specific activities and targets – in sport, business, tourism, culture, skills and employment, health and wellbeing, volunteering and education. There are also two venues for London 2012 – for the Mountain Biking and the White Water Canoeing. We looked at an outline plan for the canoe course, which includes a beginners area too, and talked about how it could be used by all sorts of groups and individuals and would have a long lasting benefit. Today the group also looked at the potential for hosting overseas teams for training in the run-up to London 2012. The wider benefits of these potential training camps were also discussed – could there be education programmes? Twinning with overseas towns? Culture swaps? – lots of potential there too. So plenty to focus on!
A quick sandwich in the station on the way back to London and some top tips from the barista there on where to visit in Poland for great culture and architecture. Poland is outside my remit for London 2012 but sounds like I need to add Wroclaw to my travel list!
