Ping! - the street ping-pong event - launches at
St Pancras International on Thursday 22nd July (6.30pm - 8.00pm),
inviting the city to celebrate the start of a month-long summer
event.
With tables lined up across the station
concourse, the launch event will feature a series of spectacular
ping-pong demonstrations that have never been seen before,
including Extreme Ping Pong by Parkour UK and Ping Popping with the
Westendkids.
As well as offering the opportunity for free
play, members of the British table tennis team will be on hand to
show everyone how it’s done and those wishing to pick up some
skills can engage in Champion Master Classes.
The launch marks the start of
Ping! - an event in which 100 ping-pong tables
will pop up across London’s landmarks, squares, shopping centres,
estates, offices and train stations. From Soho Square to Westfield
Shopping Centre, Tate Britain to the British Library, St Pancras
International to Heathrow’s Terminal 3, the tables are up for four
weeks for everyone to enjoy. Ping! has been
created by Sing London, the participatory arts organisation that
produced last year’s Street Pianos Project. With its array of
surprising locations and varied public events,
Ping! makes participation irresistible.
Ping! is delivered in
partnership with the English Table Tennis Association who will
bring Ping! to four more cities over the next two
years, returning to London for 2012.
Supported by National Lottery funding from
Sport England’s Innovation Fund, Ping! aims to get more
people playing sport as part of the sporting legacy of the 2012
Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Further support comes from sponsors Yahoo! who
are working with Ping! so Londoners can access and interact with
ping pong tables at locations near where they work, live or play
all through the month of August!
For a full programme of events please visit
http://www.pinglondon.com/
Colette Hiller, Creative Director of Sing
London, said: “Ping! is for everyone – those who love table tennis
and those who didn’t know they did. A quick game of ping-pong
en-route to work or over a lunchtime sandwich? What better way to
put a smile on the face of Londoners!”
Sport England’s Chief Executive, Jennie Price,
said: "Sport England’s job is to make sure everyone has the chance
to play a sport that interests them, and sometimes that means
taking the sport to the people, rather than the people to the
sport. Table tennis has wide appeal, and I hope that thousands of
people will take advantage of these outdoor tables and will enjoy
playing.”
Andrew Cocker, Head of UK Marketing, Yahoo!
said: “Ping! is a fantastic series of events which enable people to
have fun playing table tennis across the capital in both iconic and
obscure locations. We’re encouraging Yahoo! users and the wider
public to play no matter where they are, what time of day it is or
whatever standard they are! It’s a great way to socialise and have
fun this summer and we’re delighted to be a part of it”.
Richard Yule, ETTA’s Chief Executive, said:
“It is fantastic for table tennis to be at the forefront of further
cutting edge interventions to increase sustainable mass
participation. We recognize there is a growing demand for informal
opportunities to play table tennis that is outside of the scope of
our traditional club and league structure. Ping! and the outdoor
table initiatives will allow us to embrace this growing market and
also re-establish table tennis in the public’s imagination as a
fun, sociable and desirable sport to play.”
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said:
“Having just announced our own summer of sport programme to get
Londoners more active I think Ping! is a fabulous idea. A bit of
light exercise in the great outdoors, some friendly competition -
even if you've never tried table tennis before, give it a go.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Sport England invests National Lottery and
Exchequer funding in organisations and projects that will grow and
sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities
for people to excel at their chosen sport.
Sport England is committed to creating a
world-leading community sport system, and has set specific and
measurable targets to achieve by 2012/13:
- One million people doing more sport
- A 25% reduction in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds who drop
out of at least five key sports
- Improved talent development systems in at least 25 sports
- A measurable increase in people’s satisfaction with their
experience of sport
- A major contribution to the delivery of the five hour sports
offer for children and young people.