2012 Olympics

701 days and Counting

The countdown has begun. With less than two years to go to the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games, a recent BBC poll found that Londonders were more optimistic about the Games now than in 2006.

The Olympic Park will be the size of Hyde Park, with sporting, health, education and park facilities for East London. An estimated 9,000 residential units will be built with 50% of those promised to be affordable housing.

At the peak of the sites construction approximately 7,000 construction jobs will be created with a further 70,000 volunteers needed to during Game, plus a further 8,000 volunteers to participate in the Mayors London Ambassadors programme.

The Games will have a significant social and economic impact on London, with nowhere feeling the greatest impact than in the heart of East London within the five Olympic host boroughs of Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest

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Volunteering Legacy

With an estimated 70,000 volunteers needed to help stage the Games, various initiatives like the Personal best Programme have been launched to provide potential volunteers with the skills and experience needed to volunteer for the Games, as well as improve their prospects of gaining future employment.

To maximise the sectors involvement in the continuing development of the Games volunteering programme, Greater London Volunteering [GLV] have appointed a 2012 Volunteering Legacy Officer. Hosted by GLV some of the key tasks this worker will undertake include:

Increasing awareness of the 2012 Volunteering Strategy
Increasing awareness of volunteering opportunities linked to events so that a pool of event volunteers for larger events leading up to and beyond the Games can be created
Acting as a broker of sports and cultural events leading up to the Games

Worklessness

Employment rates within the host boroughs are 14% less than the London and England averages respectively, initiatives such as the City Strategy Pathfinder [CSP] have also been launched to tackle worklessness across the host boroughs.

Third Sector Involvement

Advocating on behalf of the sector is the Big Opportunity Steering Group that oversees a project of the same name and project co-ordinator post hosted by London Civic Forum.

In June 2007 the project launched the ‘Big Opportunity’ the offer made on behalf of the VSC to the Olympic delivery agencies and statutory bodies.

Members of the Big Opportunity Steering Group and working with each of the Council for Voluntary Service [CVS] within the host boroughs, the East London CVS Network is working to:

Improve the sectors opportunities to maximise the benefits of the Games through working in partnership with local CVS, strategic third sector organisations and public bodies
Increase the sectors opportunities for engagement with public sector bodies concerned with the Games
Secure VSC representation on the strategic boards overseeing the implementation of the East London CSP

Further reading documents related to the Olympics can be found by clicking on the links below.

The situation is changing rapidly: we will endeavor to keep the sector up-to-date so 'watch this space'