Our Golden Opportunity
The article below featured in the Northern Echo on Saturday 21st August:
The momentous event that will be the London Olympics in 2012 is approaching fast. And although it is to be staged in the capital, the benefits must be felt across the nation for a generation to come.
Yesterday, the Tees Valley 2012 Legacy Action Plan was launched to lay the foundations for the lasting impact that the 2012 Olympics must have in this part of the world.
It is a plan which we enthusiastically endorse because it is in keeping with our passion for grassroots sport and all the good that it does. Through our Local Heroes supplement every Saturday, and the annual Local Heroes Awards, we do our best to showcase the stars of grassroots sport. We celebrate the competitors, the coaches, and the leading lights who achieve, guide and inspire. Sport has a unique power to transform lives; to improve public health; to counter anti-social behaviour and to bring people together. And the Olympics, here in our country in less than two years, is a golden opportunity to make sure that millions of people are encouraged to live sporting lives.
Local authorities remain the biggest investors in sport at the grass roots and the pressure on their budgets is intense as the coalition Government tackles the national economic crisis.
We do not underestimate the balancing act that will have to be performed, but we hope that sports provision remains as high as possible on the agenda of local authorities throughout our region. And we hope that is matched by an upsurge in volunteers willing to play a part in building the legacy of our Olympics.
