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Sports Minister to honour legacy volunteer outside 10 Downing Street

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The Community Games Relay will make a pit stop outside 10 Downing Street tomorrow for former Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson to present one special legacy volunteer with a unique jersey. 

The arrival outside number 10 will be a highlight of the Relay, which has been mirroring the footsteps of last year’s Olympic Torch Relay.

During its 70 day virtual journey it has been visiting communities across the country and shining a spotlight on legacy and the people bringing legacy to life, one year on from the Games.

Friday will mark day 69 of the Community Games Relay – the day before it makes its final voyage to the Copper Box Arena within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on day 70 (Saturday July 27) to be met by Lord Coe.

Minister Robertson will be outside Downing Street to meet representatives from the Community Games programme – which is being delivered by the County Sports Partnership Network and the YMCA – and will be rewarding one volunteer for the role he has played in helping to keep the Olympic flame alive within his community.

Volunteer Anthony Temple, from Bermondsey, has been selected as the Relay’s day 69 ‘Shining Light’. Each day of the Relay a ‘Shining Light’ is honoured for the work they have done in bringing their local community together to enjoy sport and cultural activity through Community Games.

Minister Robertson will award Anthony with the unique ‘Shining Light’ jersey, which has only been bestowed to the 70 selected volunteers during the Relay.

Anthony, who is a youth worker at the Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey, is being acknowledged for the role he has played in encouraging young people to get involved in sporting activity.

The 20-year-old became involved in the Community Games programme while he was working as a volunteer at the centre.

Two years on he is now a full time member of staff at the youth centre and he said one of his greatest achievements has been his involvement with Community Games.

He said: “Community Games provides people of all ages and abilities to come together to enjoy sport and culture in a fun environment.

It has been rewarding to see young people, who were inspired by London 2012, take part in a range of different sporting and cultural activities through the Community Games programme.”

Minister Robertson said:

“When the Olympic Torch arrived in Downing Street this time last year, it received a tremendous reception from the British public.

“As we approach the one-year anniversary of the start of the Games, it is fantastic to hear that communities across the country are coming together, inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“We very much hope that even more communities follow the great example that the ‘Shining Lights’ and get involved in the Olympic legacy. It will be a pleasure to present Anthony with his ‘Shining Light’ jersey.”

The ‘Shining Lights’ represent 33,500 others across the country who are helping to keep the spirit of the Games alive in their communities.

On Saturday, the anniversary of the Games, Anthony, along with the 69 other ‘Shining Lights’ will receive a special thank you from Lord Coe at a celebratory reception being held in their honour.

For more information about the Community Games and its Relay, please log on to www.communitygames.org.uk.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Shining Lights

In total there are 70 Shining Lights who have been rewarded for helping to deliver Olympic and Paralympic legacy in their communities.

Each day of the Community Games Relay they are celebrated.

On day 70 of the Relay (the one-year-anniversary of the Games) the day 70 Shining Light status and jersey will be presented to Lord Coe.

A special reception for all the Shining Lights is being held at the Copper Box Arena at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday July 27, with Lord Coe in attendance.

Community Games:

  • Community Games provides support to enable local communities to come together. Run by volunteers, events can be small neighbourly picnics right through to large-scale events in parks.
  • The Community Games programme was launched in the West Midlands in 2009 and was originally funded for three years by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
  • Last year 1,714 Community Games took place involving more than one million participants and 33,500 volunteers.
  • Community Games is inspired by the Wenlock Olympian Games founded by Dr William Penny Brookes in 1850 and still held annually in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. The Wenlock Olympian Games were the inspiration behind the modern Olympic and Paralympic Games when Baron Pierre du Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement, visited the games in 1890. The Community Games programme pays homage to a community event that inspired a global event, and now uses that global event to inspire a new raft of community events.
  • For more information about Community Games log on to www.communitygames.org.uk

The YMCA:

  • Founded 168 years ago, the YMCA in England is made up of 121 member YMCAs working to ensure that young people have opportunities to thrive and contribute positively to their communities.
  • YMCA operates in over 530 different communities in England impacting upon the lives of over 500,000 people every year.
  • Every night YMCAs provide over 9,000 beds for young people. The YMCA is the largest voluntary sector provider of safe, supported accommodation for single men and women aged between 16-30 years old.
  • The YMCA enables nearly 24,000 people every year to engage in education, skills and training to enable them to improve their opportunities in the job market.
  • The YMCA is the largest voluntary sector provider of health and wellbeing services promoting physical activity.
  • For further information please visit http://www.ymca.org.uk

The County Sports Partnership Network (CSPN):

  • The County Sports Partnership Network brings together 49 County Sports Partnerships from across England, and is responsible for supporting the delivery of national sports policy at a local level by shaping it to the needs of local communities.
  • The CSPN contributes to the health of the nation by helping local people lead healthier, active lives.
  • The CSPN brings together the knowledge and expertise of a range of local delivery partners – including local authorities, clubs and schools – which enables it to use resources in the most efficient way possible to deliver sport in local communities.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

  • The London Legacy Development Corporation promotes and delivers physical, social, economic and environmental regeneration in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and surrounding area, in particular by maximising the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
  • Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will begin to open from July 2013 and will be fully open from spring 2014, it will be a whole new part of the city to enjoy and will provide jobs and homes for east London.
  • For more information about the Legacy Corporation visit: www.londonlegacy.co.uk/about-us
  • For more information about Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park visit: www.QueenElizabethOlympicPark.co.uk

The Copper Box Arena

  • The Copper Box Arena hosted the Handball and Modern Pentathlon Fencing during the Olympic Games and Goalball during the Paralympic Games. It is now being transformed into a new venue with flexible seating capacity and facilities for a wide range of indoor sports training and competitions as well as cultural and business events.
  • It will be one of the first legacy venues to re-open in July 2013 and is located in the west of the Park close to Hackney Wick station and near to the Press and Broadcast Centres.
  • The Arena will serve as a venue for a variety of indoor sports. The highly flexible design means it will be used for all levels of sports participation, from events to high performance training to community use. For more information visit www.better.org.uk/copper_box

About GLL

  • The Copper Box Arena is operated by GLL a charitable social enterprise, created to manage community services and spaces. GLL oversees the management of over 100 leisure centres and 24 libraries across the UK. GLL is an employee-owned society and works in partnership with fifteen London boroughs, two city councils, four borough councils, six district councils and three associated partners, including the London Legacy Development Corporation on the operation of the Copper Box Arena and London Aquatics Centre in legacy mode. Other charitable partners, Freedom Leisure and Halo Leisure manage further leisure facilities across the South East of England and Bridgend, South Wales on behalf of GLL. www.gll.org

Donna Roddy, Citydesk Sport, on behalf of Community Games.

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