Islington and the London 2012 Games

The London 2012 Games section of the Islington Council website describes opportunities offered by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and how we can benefit from them, and recent news items.

News

Community Games

The Community Games offer free sports and volunteering activities to young people aged eight and above in the summer holidays across the borough. Sports include athletics, basketball, cricket and football. For more information, see the document below, Community Games 2010 programme, contact Access to Sports (020 7686 8812) or go to the Events Diary; the activities are listed as multi-sports.

Volunteering at the London 2012 Games

Do you want to be a volunteer at the London 2012 Games? Two schemes have been launched. Go to the Volunteering page for more information.

London 2012 Open Weekend on 23-25 July

The London 2012 Open Weekend is an annual, national event that is part of the build up to the London 2012 Games. For the weekend Islington Council produced three new walks that guide you through some gems of Islington's architecture and environment in the north, centre and south of the borough. The walks are available from Islington Museum, libraries and the council website: www.islington.gov.uk/islingtonmuseum. A guided walk took place of the centre of the borough.

Also for the weekend Islington libraries offered free CD and DVD collections and ran Olympic themed quiz events. The Community Games started on the weekend. The London Symphony Orchestra St Luke’s invited young musicians to rehearse and perform a concert of orchestra music and a soundtrack to a silent movie.

Seb Coe visits Islington

On 12 July 2010 Seb Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, visited Islington (see picture). He attended Hugh Myddelton primary school sports day, which was arranged by the head teacher, Andy Turnock. Seb Coe said: "I've had a fantastic afternoon and it’s been great to see children being so active in a sensible, competitive environment. Andy Turnock and his team deserve a lot of praise for organising such an impressive sports day and it's been overwhelming to see so many parents here supporting not only their children but the school. I hope we see some of these children competing in years to come". Seb Coe also presented Islington's 2012 Youth Ambassadors (Brooke Robinson and James Akinyemi) with Islington 2012 badges.

Go Islington

As part of the Cultural Olympiad Go Islington, a festival of Running, Dancing, Cycling and Arts, took place on Sunday 4 July 2010 in Highbury Fields, N5 1AR. Over 4000 people attended. Go to www.islington.gov.uk/goislington for more information.

Islington London 2012 badge

In late 2009 St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell was voted the borough’s most popular landmark and is now on a London 2012 badge for Islington. London 2012 held a competition to ask what landmark should be used on a badge for each of London’s 33 boroughs. St John’s Gate was voted the most popular landmark in Islington. Go to the London 2012 website to view the badge and to buy it. St John’s Gate website has more information about the competition result and the landmark.

Kelly Holmes is Islington’s favourite Olympian

In late 2009 Islington residents voted Kelly Holmes as their favourite British Olympian/Paralympian. Daley Thompson came second and Steve Redgrave came third. Over 400 votes were cast. The vote was held as part of an exhibition about the Olympic and Paralympic Games at Islington Museum held in September and October 2009. The highly successful exhibition had nearly double the number of usual visitors to the museum: more information is on the Events page.

Opportunities

The London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will take place in July to September 2012. Fifteen thousand athletes are expected for the Games, 70,000 volunteers will be needed, 10,000,000 tickets will be on sale, and a television audience of billions is anticipated.

Holding the world’s greatest sporting event in London creates exciting opportunities for Islington. The borough is only a twenty-minute journey from the Olympic Park and close to the six sports taking place in central London. During the Games St Pancras will be a seven-minute journey from the Olympic Park, via a high-speed rail link taking up to 25,000 passengers/hour. The torch relay will come through Islington. With our wealth of cultural attractions, restaurants and bars and our diverse population, the borough could play host to thousands of visitors.

The pages on the left describe the opportunities that the Games offer:

• How your business could benefit from the Games and opportunities for tourism
• Cultural opportunities for organisations and individuals
• Forthcoming and past events
• Funding opportunities
• Where you do Olympic and Paralympic sport in Islington
• How schools can get involved
• How you could get a job or training linked to the Games
• How you could become a volunteer linked to the Games

You can also find out more about the Games themselves – such as where they are taking place, ticket information and how to visit the Olympic Park now – and related improvements to Islington.

The leaflet Islington 2012 Games (June 2009) describes what the council is doing. New Heights – An Islington Response to London 2012 (July 2008) gives an introduction to the council’s response to the Games.

An Islington Olympic Board has been set up with partners from across the borough. It oversees the Islington 2012 action plan agreed by the council’s Executive in June 2009 to help translate into reality the opportunities offered by the London 2012 Games. The action plan and minutes of the Islington Olympic Board are below.

Further Information

For more information, to request a paper copy of the documents below, or to be added to a mailing list for updates about the Games and Islington, contact John Thorne, Olympics Officer.

Email: john.thorne@islington.gov.uk

Tel: 020 7527 7096