Northumberland Sport Launch 2012 Legacy Project
Olympic Park Visit in November 2010
With 500 days to go until the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Northumberland Sport launches a new exciting project to "Bring the Games Closer".
Past and present Olympic and Paralympic athletes as well as Northumberland County Council and other invited guests joined Northumberland Sport at the Pegasus Disabled Riding Centre in Morpeth, to mark the start of a four year project to inspire young people in Northumberland to get involved in sport. The launch was followed by an equestrian demonstration led by Cathy Burrell, the Northern Paralympic representative for British Dressage who is working with a number of local prospects hoping to be part of the 2012 Paralympic Games. During the demonstration, Cathy was able to use her knowledge and skills to inspire six young people from Morpeth Collingwood School.
The new programme aims to support young people and help them recognise and develop their athletic talents and will see new initiatives such as training grants for outstanding young sportspeople in the county, coaching bursaries offered to encourage young people into coaching or become leaders in their chosen sporting field, as well as providing opportunities to run sporting events that promote participation in sport and physical activity.
Steve Stewart, Chief Executive of Northumberland County Council said "We are delighted to support Northumberland Sport with this initiative to 'Bring the Games Closer' and provide a legacy for young people in Northumberland. We look forward to hearing how more of our young people will develop their skills as sports leaders, coaches and athletes as part of this programme, and we want to encourage everyone in Northumberland to celebrate the Games and be inspired to be more active. "
A message of goodwill was delivered by two young people from Northumberland to Chris Holmes MBE, Director the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) in November, wishing on behalf of the people of Northumberland the London 2012 Games every success. Chris said: "We need you on the journey and let's make it absolutely awesome all the way to 2012 and beyond."
Doug Lowery, said "We are really keen to highlight the huge amount of talent and potential that we have in Northumberland. It is important that local people benefit from the 2012 Games and to realise what opportunities exist in their local area. This project is exciting for us as it also enables us to encourage young people to achieve their dream through sport.
We are delighted to announce that this project has officially been recognised as part of the London 2012 Inspire programme. This marks the beginning of a new plan to link Northumberland directly with the Games and inspire more young people in the county to get involved in sport."
Former Olympic Gymnast and twice Commonwealth Gold medallist, Craig Heap, one of the guests of honour on the day echoed the comments above with a message to all young people across the county, "Who we become is the greatest reward for achieving our dreams, not what we get".
Application Process
The Application process for coaching bursaries, sports leaders and training grants will be available from Monday 9th May 2011.
If you have any queries in the meantime, please contact a member of the Northumberland Sport team.
