"Gold Challenge is the chance for people
across the country to be part of the mass participation legacy.
Sport England is working with Gold Challenge because we want
everyone to play more sport."
Jennie Price
Chief Executive
Sport England
Adults across the country can now sign up to
Gold Challenge, which is harnessing the inspiration of a
home Olympic and Paralympic Games to give everyone the chance to be
part of the sporting legacy.
This independent initiative challenges
individuals and teams to take part in multiple Olympic and
Paralympic sports, while raising money for their chosen
charity.
BBC presenter Konnie Huq and Gold Challenge
founder, Dan Thompson, joined a host of Team GB Olympic and
Paralympic hopefuls, over a hundred leading charities, governing
bodies of sport and Hugh Robertson MP, the Minister for Sport and
the Olympics, at the Olympic archery venue to launch this key part
of Places People Play, the
mass participation legacy plans for London 2012.
The programme aims to bring to life the fun of
learning a new sport and improving your skills under expert tuition
at the same time as raising money for charity.
“My vision for Gold Challenge is twofold; to
inspire people of every age and physical ability to play sport, and
raise significant sums of money for charity,” said Dan Thompson.
“By harnessing the growing excitement around London 2012, we are in
a unique position to deliver these two objectives. We are
privileged to be working alongside some very high profile partners
and with their support, I am confident that the Gold Challenge will
be an outstanding success and a truly UK wide project.”
Gold Challenge is supported by Sport England,
the British Olympic Association and ParalympicsGB, and is a call to
action for people who are looking to challenge themselves as an
individual, part of a team or as part of a corporate programme.
Over 100,000 people are anticipated to take part, reaping the
benefits both personally and for their chosen charity.
Through Gold Challenge, it is hoped that £20
million will be raised for charity by the end of 2012.
"Gold Challenge is the chance for people
across the country to be part of the mass participation legacy,”
said Sport England’s Chief Executive, Jennie Price. “There’s
nothing quite like the challenge of raising money for charity to
get people off the sofa and onto the pitch, track, sports hall or
into the pool. Add the inspiration of London 2012 and you have an
incredible way to really boost sports participation. Sport England
is working with Gold Challenge because we want everyone to play
more sport."
“We want to ensure that people have as much
opportunity as possible to get involved in sport, and Gold
Challenge will help do exactly that,” said Hugh Robertson MP. “This
is an important part of our Places People Play legacy
plan, which will deliver on the bid pledge to use London 2012 to
get more people playing sport.”
Participants can personalise
their activity on the Gold Challenge website, decide
which sports to take on, whether to take part as an individual or
team or even as a business. They can also choose which cause
they want to help raise money for from one of over 100
charities.
The Gold Challenge website provides a helping
hand by providing key information guides on the different sports
and also a ‘Gold Challenge Tracker’ where participants can upload
their progress and success and benchmark performance.
To find out how you can use Gold Challenge to be part of the London
2012’s sporting legacy, you can visit their website and get stuck
in.