£21m Lottery Events Programme to deliver 118 ‘Test Events’

WORLD CLASS TRACK CYCLING AND DIVING TO BE STAGED AS £21 MILLION LOTTERY EVENTS PROGRAMME DELIVERS 118 ‘TEST EVENTS’

International Olympic Committee (IOC) say: “The positive result of UK Sport’s plans is now an example other host countries of the Games will be able to follow.”

National Lottery funding has allowed 118 major sporting events to be staged in the UK in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

41 out of 46 of Britain’s summer Olympic and Paralympic sports will have staged at least one major World or European level competition on home soil in the six years preceding the 2012 Games 

Between 2007 and 2012, UK Sport’s Lottery funded events programme will have hosted over 30,000 of the world’s best athletes, provided experience for more than 27,000 officials and volunteers and brought world-class Olympic and Paralympic competition to 35 different towns and cities and 3.5 million spectators across the UK

Estimated that over £100 million of direct economic impact will have been generated for the cities and regions hosting these events, with £4.90 generated for each £1 of National Lottery funding invested (£21 million)

UK Sport, the nation’s high performance sports agency, has been praised by the International Olympic Committee for its comprehensive programme of major events staged over the past six years in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as the final batch of official London 2012 test events get underway.

UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme, backed by £3.5 million per year of National Lottery funding (set to increase to £5 million post-2012), expanded in 2007 following London’s successful bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games to help ensure the UK’s athletes, officials and volunteers would be best prepared come 2012.

Over 100 major international events will have been brought to the UK as part of this 2007-2012 programme, to help British athletes prepare for competing at a home Games, and build expertise so that the UK can continue to host the biggest events in world sport long after the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is over.

UK Sport has worked in partnership with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to ensure that a number of the major international events on this programme will be staged in Olympic venues, providing LOCOG with the opportunity to test certain aspects of those events ahead of London 2012.

In 2011, UK Sport supported five major international events in Olympic and Paralympic host venues; the World Badminton Championships (Wembley), World Junior Rowing Championships (Eton Dorney), World Triathlon Championships Series (Hyde Park), BMX Supercross World Cup (Olympic Park) and the Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final (Greenwich Park).

In 2012, as this six year programme reaches its conclusion, UK Sport will be supporting a further two major events taking place in Olympic Park venues; the Track Cycling World Cup (Olympic Park) which starts on Thursday (16 February) and the Diving World Cup (Olympic Park) from 20-26 February. 

Gilbert Felli, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director, said: “Through their effort to proactively benefit from the London 2012 Games in the long term, UK Sport’s initiative is the proof that legacies of the Olympic Games do not simply happen by themselves. They require careful planning and a permanent focus. The positive result of UK Sport’s plans is now an example other host countries of the Games will be able to follow.”

Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “We believe we have set a blueprint for how a host nation can prepare for a home Olympic and Paralympic Games, and are very proud that this has been recognised by the IOC.

“The last few events to be staged ahead of the Games, such as the upcoming Track Cycling World Cup and Diving World Cup, offer further opportunities for the British public to help give our athletes, volunteers and officials the best possible final preparation for their home Games in 2012.

“Our focus now is on continuing this momentum into the next Olympic cycle, by staging an even more ambitious programme of events. We have made a great start, having already secured five World Championships for the 2013-19 period, including the 2017 World Athletics Championships, the sport’s most prestigious event.”

Aside from the performance benefits for British athletes and the boost to the UK’s capacity to attract major sporting events, it is estimated that for every £1 of National Lottery funding invested into these events, an average of £4.90 of additional direct economic impact is generated for the host city and region. The full events programme from 2007-2012 is therefore estimated to have generated in the region of £105 million of direct economic benefit to host cities and regions across the UK.

UK Sport has completed detailed planning for the UK’s programme of major international sporting events from 2013-2019. This programme will receive a Lottery budget of £5 million per year and will seek to use the catalysts of London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 to establish the UK as the world’s leading host of major international sporting events.

Additional facts and figures

• The total National Lottery investment by UK Sport into this programme over the six years is approximately £21million. Additional funding to stage these events from partners and commercial revenue is around £52 million.

• Nine events still to take place in the UK ahead of the Games as part of this programme:

UCI Track Cycling World Cup 2012, London; 16- 19 February

FINA Diving World Cup 2012, London; 20 – 26 February

Handball London Cup 2012, London; 5-7 April

European Taekwondo Championships 2012, Manchester; 3-6 May

UCI BMX World Championships 2012, Birmingham; 24-27 May

ISAF World Cup Sailing 2012, Weymouth; 4-9 June

ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup 2012, Cardiff; 8-10 June

European 470 Sailing Championships, Largs; 1-8 July

Disability Athletics Grand Prix 2012, London (Target)

A full list of the 2007 – 2012 World Class Events Programme, can be downloaded here:

http://www.uksport.gov.uk/publications/2007-2012-world-class-events-programme

Source.

(Source: peppermintbars.co.uk)

London 2012 – Golden egg or ‘damp squib’ for UK businesses?

The London 2012 Olympics are quickly approaching, but will the Games be the golden egg or “damp squib for” U.K. businesses?

On one side, the culture secretary sees them as “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to promote the UK.” So far, almost 40,000 jobs have been created as a direct result of the Olympics and Stratford City has been reinvented with vast new construction projects, including the largest shopping centre in Europe.

On the other side, renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber fears they will bring a “bloodbath” for London theatre, world-famous music festivals, including The Big Chill, have been cancelled, and even VisitBritain doubts we’ll see any real influx of foreign visitors.

So, where does the truth lie? It probably depends what business you’re in and if you’re betting on making a buck this summer or hoping to dig your way out of the recession for good.

Big business sees boom
New businesses on the Olympic doorstep are likely to boom. The Westfield supermall in Stratford drew in 160,000 customers the first day it opened and is expected to be teaming with locals and tourists all summer.

The British economy has been bolstered by all the activity around the Olympic Village since the bid was accepted in 2005 and companies closely tied to the official venues should fare very well.

However, the majority of Olympic projects –construction of sporting venues, food and drink sales, security etc. - have gone to large firms. Meanwhile, Westfield is teaming with multinational stores. From Apple to Armani and Pandora to Primark, shoppers have a full spectrum of mega chains to choose from. But, small, independent retailers say they’ve suffered the consequences.

This January, the Essex Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) labeled the long-term benefits of the Games a “damp squib” for small companies.

“The immediate effect of the Olympic area where Westfield has been developed has been bad. Local businesses have really suffered because of the shopping mall along with the recession,” South Woodford Business Partnership chairman Kerk Davies told The Guardian.

More than 60 percent of small businesses in the area believe the Games legacy will not help them at all, according to a survey conducted by the FSB. In fact, 25 percent of the 1,674 companies interviewed predicted that the Olympics would have a negative effect.

A separate survey conducted by Olympic sponsor BT of 1,200 companies around the UK found that 72 percent expected their supply chain to be disrupted and 40 percent thought staffing would be a headache because staff would want time off.

‘Displacement’
VisitBritain, which has received an extra 27 million in funding to drive up tourist numbers, has admitted that the Olympics will put some people off visiting London.

“For some people, a busy and vibrant environment with a global spotlight on it is not where they want to go on holiday, which is fair enough,” a spokesman told The Guardian. “It’s displacement – people who would usually come here go somewhere else.”

While the usual theatre-loving, Tower-of-London-touring visitors may be fewer in number this summer, Stratford is sure to be packed.

Gearing up to serve the 9.7 million spectators, 200,000 workers, and 140,000 athletes and officials expected in the Olympic Park, McDonald’s is building its largest restaurant ever.

However, as the mega McDonald’s heaves with hungry visitors, restaurants outside Stratford may see fewer diners.

“Many of the visitors will be eating in the Games area so restaurants in the West End may suffer,” a spokesman for the British Hospitality Association told the paper.

“And if Britons stay at home to watch the Games on TV – rather than going out to eat as they might normally do – that will impact on restaurants far beyond London,” said spokesman Miles Quest.

Festivals canceled, moved
The festival industry is still gauging the effect the Olympics will have on the upcoming season.

Glastonbury moved its rest year from 2011 to 2012 to avoid a clash with the Games.

HSome festivals that usually take place at the start of August, including Herefordshire’s The Big Chill and Ireland’s Oxegen, have been canceled.
Organisers of The Big Chill said the Olympics had negatively impacted “artist availability.”

owever, the festival had suffered its own problems in the past. Festival Republic took over the event three years ago when it went into voluntary liquidation with debts amounting to 1.2 million. Last year, it was headlined by The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, and Rodrigo y Gabriela, but it failed to sell out.

Successful festivals, like Victoria Park’s Field Day and Brighton’s Shakedown, have changed their dates but will otherwise go ahead as usual.

‘Bloodbath’ for the West End?
“Nobody’s going to go to the theatre at all,” Lord Lloyd Webber told the BBC.

He feared “a bloodbath of a summer” for the West End, saying that “most of the theatres in London will shut”.

“It’s going to be very tough,” he told the broadcaster, adding that advance bookings were “about 10 percent” of their normal level.

He claimed that three major musicals “are not going to play over the Olympics.”

However, President of the Society of London Theatre Mark Rubinstein, gave a more nuanced assessment of the situation.

“There’s no question that there’s going to be a lot of visitors in London. I don’t think it’s going to be a bloodbath. I think we are going to see different audiences from the summer audience we would normally see in those weeks,” he told The Guardian.

Rubinstein said the key to success would be in getting those new audiences out of Stratford and into the West End.

“There will be an awful lot of visitors whose primary reason for coming is the Games and we need to work harder as an industry to reach out to those people, to run promotions, to run initiatives that will make sure they get the information about what shows are on and how to book,” he told the paper.

‘Wave of excitement’
Excitement for the Games is growing as venues are finished, but there is a north-south divide over how much Britain will benefit in the long run.

Just 22 percent of Scottish businesses believe the UK economy will benefit, compared to 53 percent in the South of England, including London. In the Midlands, just 36 percent believe the economy will be lifted, according to research by RSM Tenon and YouGov on behalf of The Daily Telegraph.

But, as big and small businesses across the country vie for a piece of the Olympic pie, there may be reasons for optimism regarding the long-term benefits of the Games.

Three-quarters of businesses in Vancouver, which hosted the 2010 Olympics, say they have continued to enjoy higher sales, according to the BT survey.

Sixty percent say they have experienced ongoing Olympic-related benefits. Most of the companies that did well were in the media, leisure, and retail industries.

The Government says it is also backing a new tourism fund aimed at generating £1 billion of public relations and marketing activity in the years around 2012, with the target of 1 million extra visitors a year and £2 billion additional spend for the UK as a whole.

“There is a lack of understanding of the economics behind the funding of London 2012. The budget is very closely monitored and people forget that the physical assets from the Games, such as stadiums and buildings, will generate revenue,” John Abbott, director of accountants at RSM Tenon told The Telegraph.

“Positive consumer sentiment is confidence based. More people are likely to be swept up in the wave of excitement surrounding the Games the nearer we get to July 2012.”

(Source: facebook.com)

London Olympics 2012 - The ticket crisis: how has it been addressed?

By Dean Barker.

The Olympics arrives in Britain 2012! But why did so many people not get any tickets and how has the issue been addressed?

Much to the delight of sport fans and culture vulture natives from all around Great Britain we put in a bid for the Olympics, and we won - great!? Or so many would have first thought.

With the Olympic Games, the greatest sporting event in the world, coming to our country this understandably sparked a lot of excitement around the nation. People with high hopes of being able to go see the games they most want to witness, within driving distance of their own homes for the first time in 64 years, whether an avid sports fan or just someone with a bit of an interest who had never really considered that they might in their lifetime attend an Olympic event.

Unfortunately for two-thirds of hopeful people who applied for tickets for next year’s games the old saying that ‘if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is’ fitted their situation a bit too realistically. The question on everyone’s lips to come from this and also being the biggest disappointment to most people is why did certain people manage to get a whole batch of tickets and why did most people not manage to get any. With 3.5m tickets to sell these where only received by a small comparison figure of 850,000 people, meaning if they had only sold one ticket to each of these people then they would still have 2650000 to dish out, which would have helped please people a great deal more.

To find out what I could do as a person who has myself applied for a selection of tickets for the games next year and found myself amongst the many unsuccessful candidates I called the official Olympic 2012 ticketing helpline, explained my situation and politely asked what I can do now to still be in for a chance of getting a ticket to go to the Olympic games next year; the results sounded hopeful but not something to get myself to exited about. 

I was told that I can still get tickets for the Olympic football or the Paralympics but if I want a ticket for a more specific event such as the diving, cycling or athletics then my best bet would be to wait for the re sale on January the 6th 2012 and hope for the best that enough people have returned tickets, so although it is a slim chance you still do have a 2nd chance, it may just pay to be a bit demanding and persistent with your attempts.

For those who don’t get tickets for the specific events which you wished for then you could buy a ticket to either the Olympic football or Paralympics even if this is not your number one on the list it could still be a great thing to see as it is very rare we have Olympic games of any kind in our country. Another thing that would be highly recommended to do besides from getting tickets for the games would be to just get yourself down London and join in with the buzzing atmosphere which will be surrounding the games; expect the streets to be pumping with lively pubs and bars, high spirits, lots of culture and tourism and street parties.

(Source: peppermintbars.co.uk)

London 2012 Festival on the BBC

A season of programmes celebrating Shakespeare, another on the host Olympic city, London; plus details of three of the biggest music events of next year – all hosted by the BBC – are just some of the highlights of the BBC’s contribution to the London 2012 Festival and the Cultural Olympiad.

(Source: BBC)