London 2012 Visit to Inspire more Participation
Steve Cram & Stephen Miller thanking Young People at Chantry Middle School
Two young ambassadors, Abbie Price and Joe Hodgson, were recently selected from Northumberland Sport's 'Sport Unlimited' programme to visit the London 2012 Olympic Park and Stadium. During the visit, they presented an official message of good will from the Chair of Northumberland County Council wishing organisers of the Olympic & Paralympic Games success for 2012, from all the young people and residents of Northumberland.
This was handed to Chris Holmes MBE, 9 times former Paralymic Gold medallist and a Director of 'The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games' (LOCOG).
This once in life-time opportunity was really well received by Abbie and Joe, both from Morpeth Chantry Middle School, who were nominated for this visit as a consequence of their enthusiastic participation in the countywide Sport Unlimited Cycling and Angling programmes. They both thought London was fantastic and the Games would be a great success and could not wait for 2012. One of the first buildings to be completed will be the Velodrome and Joe said;
"The Velodrome looked amazing and I would love to return in 2012 to see the cycling inside the arena."
Abbie said;
"My favourite part of the day was when we visited the Aquatics centre with the building shape resembling a sting ray which was really impressive."
Chris paid tribute to Northumberland by saying;
"Welcome to all the guys from Northumberland to the Olympic Park and a big thanks for your involvement with the Games and projects especially your involvement in the Inspire Programme. We need you on the journey and let's make it absolutely awesome all the way to 2012 and beyond. "
Celebrating the Visit
To celebrate the visit, former Olympian Steve Cram MBE and current Paralympian Stephen Miller made a special visit Chantry Middle School in Morpeth to thank them for delivering the message to LOCOG.
Steve Cram MBE said:
"It's great to see local young people like Joe and Abbie enjoy an opportunity to visit the London 2012 Olympic Park. We were delighted to have Sport Unlimited officially recognised as part of the London 2012 Inspire programme, which is hopefully the beginning of Northumberland connecting with the Games which will inspire more young people in the county to get involved in sport.
London 2012 offers an opportunity for sport like never before and hopefully this visit will lead to lots of locally developed Olympic and Paralympic projects that will deliver a lasting legacy for all young people in Northumberland."
Stephen Miller said:
"I think it's fantastic that Abbie & Joe got the opportunity to visit the Olympic Park in London. Hopefully it gave them a taste of what the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be like and it will inspire them to continue taking part in sport."
Steve Stewart, Chief Executive of Northumberland County Council said:
"I would like to thank Northumberland Sport for organising this fantastic opportunity for Abbie and Joe as I can see how much this visit meant to them. I would also like to congratulate both Abbie and Joe on being selected and for their enthusiasm in their sport, angling and cycling. I hope that they continue with this and wish them well for the future. The Sport Unlimited programme has been a successful programme and has enabled our young people to be engaged in sport. This is something the council are keen on and we would like to wish Northumberland Sport and all partners every success in delivering new opportunities and links to 2012 over the next eighteen months and beyond."
YouTube Video & Further Information
Please visit our YouTube channel to view how the Olympic Park visit went from the eyes of Joe and Abbie. Alernatively, please visit our dedicated Sport Unlimited website for further information abot the programme.
Please visit our Sport Unlimited website for more information about this programme.
