Written evidence submitted by Taking Part
(UK) Ltd
1. INTRODUCTION
Thank you for the opportunity to submit the
following note. My comments are based on experience of the Olympic
Movement, as the former head of communications for the Olympic
Games at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). To this is
added experience of the policy framework for British sports delivery,
as researcher to Lord Pendry of Stalybridge. I have also experienced
both the wealth of West London's natural and built sporting infrastructure
and the relative deprivation of that in the East.
You ask several vital questions:
2. "Whether the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games will deliver a lasting legacy of social, physical and economic
regeneration"
2.1 All Olympic and Paralympic Games leave
a lasting legacy in these areas. London 2012 will do so more effectively
than any previous host.
Legacy, in all its guises, was made a priority
even before a bidding decision was reached. The Committee deserves
no little credit for this, together with an IOC bidding process
that has given ever-greater priority to the lasting impact of
the Games upon the host country.
2.2 Outstanding progress has been made by
all involved in the delivery of London 2012, most notably by the
London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
(LOCOG), by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). This progress,
which should be neither underestimated nor taken for granted,
has enabled the wider consideration of how the Games' impact might
be maximized for long-term social, physical and economic benefit.
It is important to recognise this achievement. Had the preparations
for Athens 2004 been carried out at this phenomenal pace, for
example, there would clearly have been more scope to consider
the longer-term impact of permanent Games infrastructure on that
city.
2.3 The economic and social legacies of
London 2012 are being handled admirably by groups and partnerships
that include the Strategic Regeneration Framework. I will limit
my comments on physical legacy to Olympic Park venues.
2.4 While the work of securing the best
possible impact for London 2012 continues apace, the scope for
shaping that work diminishes with the time remaining until the
Games. If adjustments are to be made or additional programmes
are to be added, right now is the time to do so.
3. "The use and management of the Olympic
Park and venues after 2012"
3.1 With only two and half years remaining
before the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games return to London,
the scope for shaping the physical legacy of Games venues would
appear to be limited. Structures have for the most part been well
defined and in many cases are nearly built. For the most part,
the work carried out reflects great care and consideration with
regard to post-Games use, again influenced by delivery bodies,
the Committee's scrutiny and suggestions and the IOC's recommendations
and continued flexibility. Plans, work and contracts are years
ahead of previous Olympic hosts.
I suspect the work done around the canoe/kayak
slalom course, for example, is likely to be serve for many years
as a case study in best legacy practice. Questions of the Olympic
Stadium's post-Games use, meanwhile, are best handled by the Olympic
Park Legacy Company (OPLC).
3.2 The shaping of the public domain parkland
around the Olympic Park's competition and non-competition venues
will hopefully reflect the needs of all sport, recreation and
physical activity, not just the needs of the best-funded national
governing bodies of sport. Petanque and capoeira are likely to
be just as interesting as some Olympic sports to many of the people
who will live in and around the Park. Neither needs more than
a properly prepared patch of gravel or grass.
4. "Progress towards meeting targets
to increase grass roots participation in sport"
4.1 As noted by Sport England, according
to its Active People survey, there has been clear progress towards
the target of fulfilling the Olympic and Paralympic pledge to
get one million people taking part in more sport by 2012-13. This
target is measured by the number of adults (16+) found to have
undertaken sport and active recreation sessions of 30 minutes
or more, at moderate intensity, on 12 or more of the previous
28 days.
From 2007-08 to 2008-09, the aggregate total
of men and women in the target category rose by 115,100. This
progress falls somewhat short of the annual average needed to
achieve the target by 2012-13. But it should be noted that the
programmes designed to achieve the targeted progress are still
coming into effect, following a period of significant change in
community sports delivery. And the closer we are to the Games,
the stronger their inspirational power will be.
4.2 There is little doubt that the Olympic
and Paralympic Games have strong potential to inspire those already
inclined towards sport to do more of it. The process whereby this
happens is commonsense and has been given a title, "the demonstration
effect", by Professor Mike Weed of Canterbury Christ Church
University's Sport, Physical Education & Activity Research
centre. Prof Weed identified the demonstration effect as part
of his work for the Department of Health: "A Systematic
Review of the Evidence Base for Developing a Physical Activity
and Health Legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games."
4.3 What approach should be taken, however,
for those completely disconnected from participation in sport?
According to the Active People survey, the number of adults doing
zero sessions of at least moderate intensity, for at least 30
minutes in the previous 28 days rose from 2007-08 to 2008-09.
The increase of 225,000 adults in this category took the national
percentage of those doing no sport up to 57.1% (slightly above
the previous year, although down from 2005-06). This is the size
of the group whose lack of participation is likely to result in
long-term issues of health, productivity and wellbeing.
4.4 Prof Weed's research found that for
those disconnected from sport another effect was likely to stimulate
participation: "the festival effect." Prof Weed observes:
"Festival, and the communality or `communitas' that it engenders,
creates in people a desire, if not an urge, to participate in
some way, and that this desire is stronger if the event is perceived
to be bigger than and beyond sport."
4.5 In this regard, the Olympic and Paralympic
Games have a significant advantage over other more ordinary sports
events. The Games already have dimensions that transcend sport:
the Olympic Torch Relay, the Cultural Olympiad, educational programmes
and the Olympic Truce are key examples. It follows, therefore,
that the Olympic and Paralympic Games are uniquely placed to help
generate a festival effect aimed at reconnecting the sedentary
with sport (particularly that of an informal nature) and physical
activity. Prof. Weed continues: "To be effective, the process
must harness the `festival effect' through a series of events,
initiatives and programmes during the next four years that are
associated with the 2012 Games as an enjoyable and prestigious
festival, at which physical activity and very informal sport-related
activities are promoted and/or encouraged. Such events, initiatives
and programmes should be convenient in both timing and location,
involve minimum cost at the point of use and be relevant to the
lives of local or cultural communities."
4.6 Following a seven month consultation
with every level of sports and physical activity delivery in the
UK, and with the full support of the International Olympic Committee,
Taking Part has prepared a plan to deliver a series of community
festivals throughout the UK, associated with the Games.
4.7 A single festival in 2010 will be accompanied
by extensive programme development. This will allow for the testing
of operational issues arising from the choice of anchor location
for 2011.
4.8 Subject to approvals, in 2011, Taking
Part will be anchored by a community festival in the newly-completed
Olympic Park, one year out from the Games. Further festivals will
be held throughout the regions and home countries on the same
day.
4.9 Plans for 2012 are dependent on the
resolution of a daunting series of operational issues. But there
is clear scope to accompany the Games with a series of community
festivals.
4.10 For 2013, Taking Part plans to complete
a resonant arc of legacy support: a festival could be created
during which Olympians and Paralympians would hand over the newly
reopened Olympic Park to the community, in its legacy configuration,
again anchoring a national series of festivals.
5. "Ways of maximising the value of
the Olympic legacy both within the host boroughs, London and across
the UK"
5.1 To paraphrase Lord Coe's oral evidence,
much great work is being done on legacy. More attention could,
however, could be brought to tell the stories of work. The Committee
can do much to help in this regard, by continuing to regularly
bring legacy work before the public eye.
6. "The aim of leaving a lasting legacy
that improves cultural life"
6.1 Others are far more qualified than I
to contribute to the Committee's work in this regard.
7. "How success in delivering lasting
legacy can be measured"
7.1 LOCOG, together with partners including
the Economic and Social Research Council is engaged in work on
the Olympic Games Impact Study. The Study is a long-term project
established by the International Olympic Committee that aims to
collect data across a wide array of environmental, social and
economic indicators. This data will inform four reports: Initial
Situation Report, Pre-Games Report, Post-Games Report and Final
Report. And with London 2012 being the first Summer Games to have
undertaken the full study, London's hosting of the Games will
leave an important legacy even in the measurement of legacy.
February 2010
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