First funding announced for Olympic legacy projects
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29th August 2008
FUNDING of more than £13 million was announced today by the Legacy Trust UK for the first activities and events designed to build a cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Games.
The Trust, which was founded last November, has granted £13.4 million to nations and regions across the UK as part of its remit to promote long lasting and wide ranging benefits from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The projects - which range from a Great Exhibition to Big Dance, and from alternativesports to a community archive - have been selected and will be managed by partnerships of arts and sports organisations across the English regions and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The grants include:
·£1.61 million to the East Midlands for a series of annual cultural events leading up to a "Great Exhibition" for 1.25 million people to be held over four months in 2012
·£1.51 million to the East of England to boost volunteering in culture and sport during the build up to the Olympics in order to develop skills and career options for participants
·£2.89 million to London for Big Dance activities to inspire communities to get involved in new experiences in unexpected places and to help get London fit for the Olympics, with up to 1.8 million people projected to take part
·£1.92 million to the South East to celebrate the region's heritage as the birthplace of the Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville 60 years ago and to promote the values of the Paralympic Movement through projects ranging from online gaming to Youth Screen outreach work
·£1.67 million for four projects in Wales, including sports clubs and competitions for young people; a new touring exhibition about the history of Welsh people who have participated in the Games; visual arts activities; and a programme of workshops to boost participation in music and performance by disabled young people
·£2.20 million to the West Midlands for up to 500 "Community Games" inspired by the ideals of the Olympics and Paralympics and to engage over 400,000 people in dance projects across the region
·£1.61 million to the South West for activities including a programme of festivals for alternative sports such as skateboarding, surfing, free running and mountain biking; inter-school sports competitions; and two biennales to be hosted in 2010 and 2012 by the Eden project
Dugald Mackie, the chair of Legacy Trust UK, said: "The Olympics are about more than sport.
"As the handover ceremony showed, the Games will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase Britain and to inspire generations of young people.
"The projects we are funding will encourage people throughout the UK to take part in cultural andsporting events, and will help leave a lasting legacy from the 2012 Olympics."
The charity has been funded by a one-off endowment of £40 million from the Big Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Of that, £6 million is earmarked for the UK School Games, organised by the Youth Sport Trust, the third edition of which was opened by double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington in Bath last night and will be held over the weekend.