The Olympic and Paralympic stakeholders today came
together to announce plans for the mass participation legacy from
the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Unveiled by the Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh
Robertson MP, and Sport England, Places People Play will bring the
sporting legacy to life in communities across the country,
answering London 2012’s Singapore promise to inspire a new
generation to play sport.
The £135 million initiative has been made possible by the
Government’s National Lottery reforms, which are bringing
additional funding into grassroots sport.
Places People Play will be delivered by Sport England, in
partnership with the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the
British Paralympic Association (BPA) with the backing of The London
Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games
(LOCOG) and the London 2012 Inspire mark.
It will bring the inspiration and magic of a home Olympic and
Paralympic Games into the heart of local communities, encouraging
more people to get involved in sport.
Places
We will transform the places where people play sport, making the
benefits of London 2012 visible in cities, towns and villages
across the country by:
- Upgrading up to a thousand local sports clubs and
facilities
- Investing in a number of iconic multi-sport facilities that set
the standards for future facilities development
- Protecting and improving hundreds of playing fields across the
country, preserving high-quality spaces for local people to play
and enjoy sport.
These facilities will be the only ones to carry the London 2012
Inspire mark, a permanent celebration of their role in the legacy
of the Games.
People
We will inspire people to make sport happen at the local level,
embedding the Olympic and Paralympic values in grassroots sport,
by:
- Recruiting, training and deploying 40,000 Sport
Makers as the next generation of sports volunteers to organise
and lead grassroots sporting activities.
Play
We will create the sporting opportunities and challenges that
give everyone the chance to become part of the mass participation
legacy, through:
- Gold Challenge – an independent initiative that will motivate
over 100,000 adults to test themselves in multiple Olympic and
Paralympic sports, and in doing so raise millions of pounds for
charity
- Sportivate – a nationwide campaign that will capture the
excitement of sport, providing opportunities for teenagers and
young adults to receive six weeks of coaching in the sport of their
choice and guiding them into regular participation within their
community.
We will be consulting disabled people and those who support them
on how we can focus some additional investment - at least £8
million - on tackling the barriers they face when they want to play
sport, as well as making sure that every element of this programme
works for disabled sportsmen and women too.
Hugh Robertson said:
“This is the cornerstone of a grassroots legacy from hosting the
Olympic and Paralympic Games, because it delivers on the bid pledge
of enabling more people of all ages and abilities to play sport.
With more Lottery money being invested in facilities, volunteering
and protecting and improving playing fields, there will be
opportunities for everyone to get involved. When people talk about
the legacy of the Games, we want them to talk about Places People
Play – and then we want them to get out there and join in.”
Sport England’s Chief Executive, Jennie Price, said:
“We can’t all be Olympians or Paralympians, but with great local
facilities, inspirational sports leaders on the ground and sporting
challenges to suit everyone, we can all be part of the mass
participation legacy of the Games.
“In developing Places People Play, we wanted to bring both the
Games and grassroots sport to life in communities across the
country ensuring that, in challenging times, sport receives the
investment and attention it needs at a local level.”
British Olympic Association Chairman, Colin Moynihan, said:
“When London was awarded the honour of hosting the 2012 Olympic
and Paralympic Games, it was with the promise that legacy would be
more than a word – it would be a tangible, sustainable commitment
to transform lives through participation in sport and an
understanding of the Olympic ideals. The innovative programmes
being introduced today will do exactly that, and the beneficiaries
will be the generations of young athletes, coaches, parents and
volunteers throughout our country who will see their lives enriched
by the positive lessons, values and choices they make through
sport. That is why it is so important that we, as partners, come
together and work collaboratively in making these programmes
successful.”
ParalympicsGB CEO, Phil Lane, said:
“We know that the performance of the ParalympicsGB team on home
soil has the potential to inspire many more disabled people to get
active and involved in sport. Places People Play will help them do
just that in their local community. We welcome the additional £8m
investment in disability sport to make sure this happens.”
LOCOG Chair, Seb Coe, said:
“When we bid for the Games in Singapore in 2005, we said that we
would use the power of the Games to inspire young people to take up
sport. Places People Play will harness the inspirational power of
the Olympic and Paralympic Games to promote sport across the
country to leave a lasting legacy of sporting facilities, trained
volunteers and more people participating in sport. This is what we
set out to achieve from bringing the Games to London and the
UK.”
Find out more about Places, People,
Play