2012 Olympics

Supporting the VCS in East London to make the most of the 2012 Olympics

Between 27th July and 9th September, 2012, London will be hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Olympic Park will be the size of Hyde Park, sporting, health care, education and park facilities for East London will be created. An estimated 9,000 residential units will be built with 50% of those promised to be affordable housing. Approximately 7,000 construction jobs and 12,000 jobs on site will be created and 70,000 volunteers will help stage the event.

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 increasing Social and Economic benefits.

Latest updates

Creative skills and learning opportunities for London residents ahead of the Olympic Games

The London Development Agency has awarded thirteen cultural and community bodies across London a share of half a million pounds to develop residents’ creative skills and increase their employability ahead of the 2012 Games. The funding is the final round of the £1.2. London Cultural Skills Fund created to enable arts bodies to educate local people.

To read more see this link

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Final agreements confirmed for Olympic Village affordable housing

athletesvillage The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) confirmed today that, as announced last month, it has now entered into final agreement for the Triathlon Homes joint venture company to purchase 1,379 affordable homes on the Olympic Village development. The signing of terms for affordable housing concludes the agreement-in-principle announced by the ODA and Government last month.

The Olympic Village will create 2,800 homes in legacy and the agreement now reached will see Triathlon Homes purchase 1,379 of the homes to become available as affordable housing, including affordable rented, intermediate market rented and part-buy part-rent (shared ownership) homes, together with shared equity housing.

The pre-sale deal will see Triathlon Homes (a joint venture company established by First Base and housing associations Southern Housing Group and East Thames Group) invest £268.7 million into the Village. The investment includes a £110 million grant from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), equity from Triathlon Homes, £63.5 million of lending from Barclays Commercial Bank and £95.2 million of lending from the European Investment Bank. As previously stated, this funding is separate to the Olympic budget and the remainder of the Olympic Village homes will be funded through the public-sector funding package announced by Government last month.

The Olympic Village will accommodate athletes during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. After 2012, it will leave the legacy of new homes together with new parks, public squares and open space; an Academy education campus for all ages; multi-use community facilities; and new infrastructure to connect the new communities with the Olympic Park, one of the largest new urban parks in Europe for 150 years.

Construction work started on the Village in June last year and building work is now underway on 7 of the 11 residential blocks with work also beginning this month on the world-class new education campus, Chobham Academy. Extract from the East Thames Group website: http://www.east-thames.co.uk/pages/np/index.asp?NPID=120

Olympic Delivery Authority 'overlooks social enterprise'

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More opportunities to visit the Olympic Park!
Exciting news! They are now able to offer site tours of the Olympic Park to members of the public. The public tours currently operate on Saturdays, Sundays and selected weekday evenings and bookings can be made up to three months in advance. To book on a tour call the booking line on 0300 2012 001 ( lines are open 9:00am - 5:00pm Monday to Friday).

Olympic Stadium On Track
Over the last twelve months fantastic progress has been made on the Stadium, which is now visible for miles around.

Please click ‘On Track’, a document that visually shows this progress:

FREE guided bus tours
The Olympic Delivery Authority operates free guided bus tours to London’s developing Olympic Park, where the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be hosted in 2012.

The tours offer members of the public the opportunity to see first hand the work that is progressing on the Olympic Park.

During the hour long trip, you will see the major venues including the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre taking shape, and learn about the environmental and community programmes running on the Olympic Park.

The tours currently operate on Saturdays, Sundays, and selected weekday evenings and bookings can be made up to three months in advance.

To book your place on a tour, phone the booking line on 0300 2012 001 (9.00am – 5.30pm Monday to Friday).

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'