2012 Roadshow hits the West Midlands

Pupils at Hamstead Hall School, which has a very active sports programme, welcomed Olympic Gold medallist and London 2012 Board member Jonathan Edwards, Olympic Heptathlon medallist Kelly Sotherton and Julian Thomas, an outstanding Sprint prospect.

Next the 2012 Roadshow dropped in on Villa Park - one of the Football venues in 2012 - for the Culture West Midlands conference.

Chair of the London 2012 Cultural Committee Jude Kelly addressed the conference, stressing that the whole of the UK would be the host nation for the Games, welcoming the rest of the world.

Speaking of the inspiration of the Games she said: "We must find a way to give all young people a sense of 'that could be me'."

Alexander Stadium and the High Performance Centre were the final stop of the busy morning in Birmingham.

Part of the English Institute of Sport network, the High Performance Centre is the base for many of the region's outstanding athletes across a range of sports.

Later in the day the Roadshow headed to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford for a tourism event, to a business event in Kingswinford and to Much Wenlock in Shropshire, where William Penny Brookes founded the Much Wenlock Olympian Games in 1850.

Tomorrow the 2012 Roadshow continues its journey, travelling through the East Midlands.

10 July 2006