London: Tomorrow (16 May, 2012) London 2012 will mark UK Inspire Day with special events taking place across the UK to celebrate more than 2,700 exceptional projects that have been inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to do something special in their local communities.
• From Shakespearian workouts in Leicester to cheerleading in Plymouth, activities taking place across the UK
• Research shows 10 million people have joined in with a London 2012 Inspire project in past four years
These projects have been awarded the London 2012 Inspire mark for helping to bring the spirit of the Games into towns and villages across the UK. Tomorrow signals the start of a summer showcase that will see London 2012 Inspire projects staging events and celebrations across Live Sites, Flame Festivals and the Olympic Torch Relay that will arrive in just two days.
Highlights of UK Inspire Day celebrations will include a special appearance from Olympic Gold medallist and triple jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards who will join local Olympian Diane Modahl at Media City in Manchester followed by daring displays from GymFest at the London 2012 Live Site, performances from local school children from Blackburn and Darwen Dance Festival, and closing the day will be the Nowt2do Dance Troop with a street dance performance for the crowds in Manchester City centre.
In London a photography exhibition of Inspire Projects will be on display at City Hall to tell the stories of Londoners whose initiatives are creating a real legacy across the capital, whilst in Farnham, Surrey, up to 1,400 parents and children will be transported to the Alice Holt Forest where a special event by local Inspire project ’The Big Read for small children’ will encourage parents to read and enjoy books with their children.
There will be activities at London 2012 Live Sites across the UK to showcase London 2012 Inspire projects. In Cardiff passersby can enjoy football demonstrations from Cardiff City Football Club’s disability sports project ‘Every Player Counts” whilst in Plymouth Inspire projects will lead ‘have a go’ sports sessions including cheerleading, volleyball, table tennis and football.
Over at the Leicester Live Site the Knitter Natter group will be on hand to get more people involved in knitting, recent winner of Coubertin’s Olympic Vision Award 'Loughborough Flames” will lead physical activity sessions and ‘The Great Shakespearean Workout’ will be performing aerobics to the beat of Shakespeare’s verse. At the Live Site in Norwich a new Inspire project, ‘Response Theatre Shorts’ will premiere their new short films whilst in Cambridgeshire, Live Art Collective East will launch their campaign for volunteers to help with their events over the summer, including ‘Hopscotch to Victory’ which aims to set the world record for the most people playing hopscotch in the same place.
Events will take place across the North East including Teeside University preparing their Opening Ceremony which will be performed at the Torch Relay Evening Celebration in Middlesbrough, whilst the West Midlands will be telling the inspirational stories of local projects such as Clean Brake, which aims to get disengaged young people to develop their own enterprises based on the refurbishment and maintenance of bikes. Inspire projects across Yorkshire will be holding celebrations from swimming in Kirklees to rowing in York and disability sports sessions in East Riding.
In Scotland Dr Andrew Murray, North Pole Marathon Champion, will inspire his fellow Scots to go for gold as Ramblers Scotland launch their national challenge on the streets of Glasgow to add a 15, 30 or 60 minute walk to your day.
In Northern Ireland The Wellcome Trust’s ‘In the Zone’ sports science Inspire project will be at the Balmoral Show in Belfast where visitors of all ages will explore how their bodies work during sport and at rest through five high-tech interactive exhibits. Activities also took place on 3 May when the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure hosted a reception for London 2012 Inspire projects at Parliament Buildings in Stormont which saw entertainment and performance from projects and a special Q&A with local Inspire ambassadors including X Factor’s Louis Walsh, Olympic boxer Wayne McCullough and Paralympic gold medallist Michael McKillop.
All these activities are taking place to celebrate the innovative London 2012 Inspire Programme - an Olympic and Paralympic first which has been running for 4 years and awarded the Inspire mark to 2,713 non-commercial projects that are creating new opportunities across the UK to inspire young people and enable communities in every part of the country to benefit from the Games. This diverse collection of projects range across sustainability, education, volunteering, business, sport and culture.
The UK Inspire Day celebrations are just the beginning of the festivities and events that many London 2012 Inspire projects will be holding all over the UK to welcome the world and give people the opportunity to join in with the Games.
With the Olympic Flame arriving in the UK this Friday projects have been preparing to showcase their projects locally when the eyes of the world are on their community. Examples include projects such as ‘My Games, My Legacy’ displaying a huge patchwork quilt of 30,000 Games-inspired pledges at the Curve Theatre in Leicester, the Balloons project performing songs inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic values at the Live Site in Liverpool and ‘Active Newcastle’ providing a series of sports taster sessions on the route in the North East.
The ‘Derry Big Flame Festival’ will hold an Olympic-themed carnival as part of a 5 day festival when Derry~Londonderry hosts the flame, whilst in Falkirk, Scotland three Inspire projects ‘Going for Gold’, ‘Falkirk’s Future Starts’ and ‘Big Summer Games’ will work together to help 50 schools and 10,000 pupils gather together to line the streets for the torch’s arrival.
Details on hundreds of events being held by Inspire projects can be found on the London 2012 events database www.london2012.com/joinin so it couldn’t be easier for people to find out now where their nearest project is and join the celebrations.
Figures released today show that more than 10 million people have already been involved in a London 2012 Inspire project, with many projects getting young people into sport for the first time. Three quarters of the 2,713 projects would not have taken place or would not have taken place on the same scale if London had not been chosen to host the Games. 88% of projects have helped to provide new skills whilst 72% of projects have created a long-term interest in sport amongst participants and over half of projects have helped to divert young people away from crime.
The research by Nielsen also shows that 78% of projects will continue after the Games whilst 9 in 10 project leads have been inspired to run similar projects in their communities in the future.
Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair, said: ‘UK Inspire Day is just the start of a range of opportunities to showcase these fantastic projects taking place across the UK that are inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
‘With 10 million people already joining in with these initiatives over the past four years and the fact that so many projects will continue after the Games, today is a demonstration that the Inspire programme is achieving its ambition to create real and lasting change across the UK.’
Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, said:
‘With the start of the Olympic Torch Relay only days away, UK Inspire Day marks the start of what will be a remarkable summer of events and celebrations bringing the spirit of the Games to local communities across the country.’Tomorrow (16 May, 2012) London 2012 will mark UK Inspire Day with special events taking place across the UK to celebrate more than 2,700 exceptional projects that have been inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to do something special in their local communities.
• From Shakespearian workouts in Leicester to cheerleading in Plymouth, activities taking place across the UK
• Research shows 10 million people have joined in with a London 2012 Inspire project in past four years
These projects have been awarded the London 2012 Inspire mark for helping to bring the spirit of the Games into towns and villages across the UK. Tomorrow signals the start of a summer showcase that will see London 2012 Inspire projects staging events and celebrations across Live Sites, Flame Festivals and the Olympic Torch Relay that will arrive in just two days.
Highlights of UK Inspire Day celebrations will include a special appearance from Olympic Gold medallist and triple jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards who will join local Olympian Diane Modahl at Media City in Manchester followed by daring displays from GymFest at the London 2012 Live Site, performances from local school children from Blackburn and Darwen Dance Festival, and closing the day will be the Nowt2do Dance Troop with a street dance performance for the crowds in Manchester City centre.
In London a photography exhibition of Inspire Projects will be on display at City Hall to tell the stories of Londoners whose initiatives are creating a real legacy across the capital, whilst in Farnham, Surrey, up to 1,400 parents and children will be transported to the Alice Holt Forest where a special event by local Inspire project ’The Big Read for small children’ will encourage parents to read and enjoy books with their children.
There will be activities at London 2012 Live Sites across the UK to showcase London 2012 Inspire projects. In Cardiff passersby can enjoy football demonstrations from Cardiff City Football Club’s disability sports project ‘Every Player Counts” whilst in Plymouth Inspire projects will lead ‘have a go’ sports sessions including cheerleading, volleyball, table tennis and football.
Over at the Leicester Live Site the Knitter Natter group will be on hand to get more people involved in knitting, recent winner of Coubertin’s Olympic Vision Award 'Loughborough Flames” will lead physical activity sessions and ‘The Great Shakespearean Workout’ will be performing aerobics to the beat of Shakespeare’s verse. At the Live Site in Norwich a new Inspire project, ‘Response Theatre Shorts’ will premiere their new short films whilst in Cambridgeshire, Live Art Collective East will launch their campaign for volunteers to help with their events over the summer, including ‘Hopscotch to Victory’ which aims to set the world record for the most people playing hopscotch in the same place.
Events will take place across the North East including Teeside University preparing their Opening Ceremony which will be performed at the Torch Relay Evening Celebration in Middlesbrough, whilst the West Midlands will be telling the inspirational stories of local projects such as Clean Brake, which aims to get disengaged young people to develop their own enterprises based on the refurbishment and maintenance of bikes. Inspire projects across Yorkshire will be holding celebrations from swimming in Kirklees to rowing in York and disability sports sessions in East Riding.
In Scotland Dr Andrew Murray, North Pole Marathon Champion, will inspire his fellow Scots to go for gold as Ramblers Scotland launch their national challenge on the streets of Glasgow to add a 15, 30 or 60 minute walk to your day.
In Northern Ireland The Wellcome Trust’s ‘In the Zone’ sports science Inspire project will be at the Balmoral Show in Belfast where visitors of all ages will explore how their bodies work during sport and at rest through five high-tech interactive exhibits. Activities also took place on 3 May when the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure hosted a reception for London 2012 Inspire projects at Parliament Buildings in Stormont which saw entertainment and performance from projects and a special Q&A with local Inspire ambassadors including X Factor’s Louis Walsh, Olympic boxer Wayne McCullough and Paralympic gold medallist Michael McKillop.
All these activities are taking place to celebrate the innovative London 2012 Inspire Programme - an Olympic and Paralympic first which has been running for 4 years and awarded the Inspire mark to 2,713 non-commercial projects that are creating new opportunities across the UK to inspire young people and enable communities in every part of the country to benefit from the Games. This diverse collection of projects range across sustainability, education, volunteering, business, sport and culture.
The UK Inspire Day celebrations are just the beginning of the festivities and events that many London 2012 Inspire projects will be holding all over the UK to welcome the world and give people the opportunity to join in with the Games.
With the Olympic Flame arriving in the UK this Friday projects have been preparing to showcase their projects locally when the eyes of the world are on their community. Examples include projects such as ‘My Games, My Legacy’ displaying a huge patchwork quilt of 30,000 Games-inspired pledges at the Curve Theatre in Leicester, the Balloons project performing songs inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic values at the Live Site in Liverpool and ‘Active Newcastle’ providing a series of sports taster sessions on the route in the North East.
The ‘Derry Big Flame Festival’ will hold an Olympic-themed carnival as part of a 5 day festival when Derry~Londonderry hosts the flame, whilst in Falkirk, Scotland three Inspire projects ‘Going for Gold’, ‘Falkirk’s Future Starts’ and ‘Big Summer Games’ will work together to help 50 schools and 10,000 pupils gather together to line the streets for the torch’s arrival.
Details on hundreds of events being held by Inspire projects can be found on the London 2012 events database www.london2012.com/joinin so it couldn’t be easier for people to find out now where their nearest project is and join the celebrations.
Figures released today show that more than 10 million people have already been involved in a London 2012 Inspire project, with many projects getting young people into sport for the first time. Three quarters of the 2,713 projects would not have taken place or would not have taken place on the same scale if London had not been chosen to host the Games. 88% of projects have helped to provide new skills whilst 72% of projects have created a long-term interest in sport amongst participants and over half of projects have helped to divert young people away from crime.
The research by Nielsen also shows that 78% of projects will continue after the Games whilst 9 in 10 project leads have been inspired to run similar projects in their communities in the future.
Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair, said: ‘UK Inspire Day is just the start of a range of opportunities to showcase these fantastic projects taking place across the UK that are inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
‘With 10 million people already joining in with these initiatives over the past four years and the fact that so many projects will continue after the Games, today is a demonstration that the Inspire programme is achieving its ambition to create real and lasting change across the UK.’
Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, said:
‘With the start of the Olympic Torch Relay only days away, UK Inspire Day marks the start of what will be a remarkable summer of events and celebrations bringing the spirit of the Games to local communities across the country.’