Trailblazing for London 2012's Local Leaders

A special decathlon-style event will be held in Falmouth on Friday May 18th, 2012 to celebrate the beginning of the Olympic Torch Relay at nearby Land’s End the following day and which will pass through Falmouth.

The StreetGames youngsters will participate in a number of Olympic sports with extra points to be gained for sportsmanship in the event which is being organised by LEAPActive Cornwall.

LEAPActive Cornwall runs six to eight sessions per week across Cornwall giving 150 young people the opportunity to participate in tag rugby, football, cricket, StreetDance and multi-sport activities.

Lewis Jones, Physical Activity Coordinator for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT, said: “The feel-good factor of the 2012 Games has reached us here in Cornwall. We wanted to do something to tie in with the Olympic Torch Relay setting off from Cornwall and this event will allow our young people to try their hand at the sports they will see the athletes playing just a few weeks later.”

StreetGames project Pendle Sports Development will hold a Pendle Schools Games at Seedhill Athletics Track in Nelson. The event will be held on Thursday 21st June at 12.00 - 4.00pm to coincide with the Olympic Torch Relay being in Burnley on Saturday 23rd June.

The mini Games will take its inspiration from the Olympic Games and will consist of track and field events. Eight schools (30 children from each school) will be invited to take part, including those from local villages and towns, including deprived wards. Free transport to and from the venue will be provided free of charge to all the schools.

Schools will be allowed to select which 30 children attend the event, but they will be encouraged to send the less sporty children as the focus on the event is enjoyment and participation rather than excellence.

Pendle Sports Development lays on 15 sessions a week (including two disabled sessions) across a wide variety of sports for 400 local young people.

Joe Cooney, manager of Pendle Sports Development, said: “Sports Development wanted to bring the Games to Pendle and give young people from all backgrounds a chance to take part in an Olympic sport. The Pendle mini-Games will include an opening and closing ceremony as well as medal presentations to make it as realistic as possible.”

Midnight basketball will come to Newcastle in a special celebration of the London 2012 Olympic Games. StreetGames will work with Newcastle Eagles and Newcastle City Council to put on the event which will be the culmination of a six-week programme to engage young people in the city with sport.

It is hoped to attract up to 10 teams to play on the evening after the men's final gold medal event of the 2012 games on Sunday August 12, 2012, finishing at midnight at the Centre for Sport in Newcastle.

The special six-week sports programme in Newcastle will work with young men and women between 14 and 16 years old and will have the involvement of both Northumbria Fire Service and Police Force in the promotion of safe and healthy access to activity.

Su Cumming, Principal manager for Newcastle Leisure Services, said: “There should be a real buzz around the final, especially finishing at midnight. London 2012 gives us an ideal opportunity to work with young people in promoting safe and positive access to activities and to promote positive messages around drugs, crime reduction and citizenship. Because of the way we are running the sessions we hope the young people will be inspired to take part in basketball and perhaps stay as club members.”

Active Newport 7/27, part of the StreetGames network in south Wales, has launched an ambitious programme offering local young people the chance to play 27 Olympic sports in 27 weeks ending on July 27, 2012 - the official start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The programme, which began on January 9th, offers taster sessions free of charge to a wide range of ages. Active Newport has linked up with local voluntary sports clubs and schools to offer the sessions as well as open days at community clubs, leisure centres and schools, with the aim of increasing awareness of the opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity.

They are also in the planning stages of arranging a 2012 Games-inspired mini-Games festival in the city for the third successive year in which cluster teams representing all areas of the city compete against each other in a number of sports.

The Active Communities Unit in Newport hosts an average of 70 sports sessions per week laying on sport for more than 1,000 young people across its seven areas.

Richard Jones, Sport and Physical Activity Development Manager, Newport City Council, said: “South Wales is excited as every other area of the country by the 2012 Games. The programme has been designed to introduce new people, both young and old, to sport. It is being run in conjunction with established sports clubs in the area.”

Hull City Council Sports Development team will be hosting a StreetGames Festival in Hull on Thursday August 2nd, 2012, the day of the women’s all-around gymnastics competition, as well as swimming, judo, table tennis and track cycling finals.

Sports Development currently runs 15 StreetGames projects across the city including the areas of Bransholme, St Andrews, Longhill, Marfleet and Myton – one of the most deprived wards in the UK.

It hosts 16 sessions per week with nearly 300 regular participants and also lays on rugby league, cricket, StreetDance, boxing and cycling/BMX for its participants.

Rachel Roberts, Assistant Head of Service (Universal Offer & Partnership Development), Hull City Council, said: “The year of 2012 offers an exciting opportunity for British sport to capture the nation's heart and inspire more young people to take up sport. It can help them on the way to a healthier lifestyle, making new friends along the way and, most importantly, having fun. StreetGames is a helping us in Hull to take sport to some of the most deprived and challenging communities in the country and the summer Festival will be a celebration of that work.”

StreetGames project FITCAP is hosting a holiday sports scheme in the summer of 2012 to celebrate Britain hosting the Games. For two weeks in August around 100 young people will be invited to try Olympic sports such as basketball, volleyball and football as well as kick-boxing and dodgeball.

Sessions will be held at Glebe Farm, Shard End in the east of Birmingham and youngsters from other organisations will be invited to attend. To complement the daily schedule, FITCAP also plans to host a community day on Super Saturdays at an open park in the city, inviting parents along as well.

FITCAP has only run football sessions in the past but this year is offering futsal, StreetDance and kick-boxing as part of its 13 sessions each week which attract 400 young people.

Alison O’Connell, project manager of FITCAP, said: “The whole country is excited about the Olympic and Paralympic Games being here and Birmingham is no different. That is why we have changed our whole focus and broadened our approach this year to bring other sports into what we offer our young people.”