Landscaping has already begun on the Athletes’ Village site where a wetlands park is already underway. The Village proposes to accommodate the athletes and officials throughout the course of the games. Once the games are over the Village will then be used to provide homes for 2, 818 families.

Olympic Delivery Authority Chairman John Armitt said: ‘The Athletes’ Village will not only deliver essential new homes for Londoners, it will create new parks, trees, play areas and open spaces that can be enjoyed by new and existing communities for generations to come.’

The open spaces will allow for play areas, cycling facilities, picnic areas and recreational spaces. These plans are in addition to the significant landscaping ideas already at work and materialising on the Olympic Park.

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A new proposal to create special ‘Games Lanes’ will be put in place to ensure that both athletes and officials involved in the games will be able to travel to and from the various venues with ease.

The lanes will be in areas through central London; Wembley Stadium; to Stratford  and to Grenwich. The lanes will be 60 miles in length and in addition to the Olympic Route Network covering 2.5% of the roads around the capital. It is anticipated that up to 18,000 athletes and officials will use the roads and a further 6,000 during the Paralympics.

The ORN will also have a specific list of users including: judges, referees, and umpires. 28,000 media representatives and 250,000 media reps with their guests. Anyone who attempts to use the roads not on the list will fined up to £200.

The ORN will also include roads in Weymouth and Portland due to sailing events take place ensuring that maximum efficiency is is achieved country-wide.

The Olympic Association is looking for 70,000 volunteers to support the Olympic and Paralympic starting in 2010.

Volunteers will be required to carry out a variety of roles whether they can offer specialist skills or simply a love and enthusiasm for sport. The volunteers will be gathered from a wide demographic, and a significant number of roles will be open to under 18s, ensuring that everyone has a chance to have a piece of the action.

The Olympic Association will be reliant on the help of volunteers to provide help with anything from transport and spectator services to press operations. Online applications open on 27th July for all those interested in offering help and support to ensure the success of London 2012.

http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/volunteering/the-volunteer-programme/index.php

For the very first time a top London designer has been asked to work alongside a leading sports company to create the new look for Team GB.

Stella Mc Cartney, top fashion designer and daughter to Sir Paul Mc Cartney, has been approached to work alongside Adidas to create cutting edge design for the Great Britain Team. Her designs will include everything from the training tracksuits and sports wear, to the merchandise sold , as part of  the most important sporting event for Great Brtiain in recent history.

Stella is reported to be be thrilled by the opportunity to join forces with the immensely successful sports company. She will be able to draw on the experiences of her back catalogue of partnerships with Disney and GAP.  Both the Olympic Association and Adidas are keen to get to work, and the public will await the first glimpses of the new look for Team GB as the Olympics unfold.

Ref:

Mirror

LOCOG announced yesterday that four leading UK creatives will form a team of Executive Producers who will oversee the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.  The creative team is a great line up:

Stephen Daldry, Oscar winning film and theatre director as Executive Producer, Creative (The Hours, Billy Elliot, The Reader)

Danny Boyle, Oscar winning British filmmaker and producer, will be the Artistic Director for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire)

Mark Fisher, concert, theatre and Beijing 2008 Games designer as Executive Producer, Design (‘The Wall’ for Pink Floyd, every Rolling Stones show since 1989, and every U2 concert since 1992)

Hamish Hamilton, The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010), Grammy and BAFTA award nominated TV director as Executive Producer, Broadcast (82nd Annual Academy Awards and the Super Bowl halftime show)

Catherine Ugwu, Producer for the 15th Asian Games in Doha in 2006, the XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 as Executive Producer, Production

Sebastian Coe said: ‘These Games are bringing together world-class British talent. Each one of these individuals would hold their own on the worldwide stage and they are joining names like children’s author Michael Morpurgo who has created the story behind our highly successful mascots. We are delighted with the team we have brought together to deliver our ceremonies in 2012.’

Danny Boyle said: ‘I’m honoured to have been invited to be the Artistic Director for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. It’s a completely unique opportunity to contribute to what I’m sure are going to be a fantastic Games, I’m really excited to be involved.’

Stephen Daldry said: ‘Myself and my co-executive producers will ensure there is creative continuity across all four ceremonies, that the public have real engagement and that we continue to attract into key roles the best talent in the world. I’m delighted to be part of the team.’

3 Mills Studios, in Bow East London will be the production centre for the ceremonies team of London 2012.  As well as the opening and closing ceremonies this will also be the base from which the Victory ceremonies and Torch Relays will be produced.

Thanks to london2012.com for story source

As the new coalition government settles in, changes are afoot for all of us.

During the Labour government, it was decided as part of the Olympic 2012 legacy initiative that there be free swimming for children and pensioners

This is now due to be scrapped as part of cost-saving measures. The scheme was created for the under-16s and over-60s for encouragement of sports and active living. Also to create enthusiasm for the sport and possibilities for Olympic competitors among the under 16s.

The Sports and Olympics minister, Hugh Robertson, said that the scheme was “a luxury” that could no longer be afforded and has been axed as part of £73m savings made by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

“This is not a decision that gives me any pleasure,” Robertson said. “However, the research shows that the great majority of free swimmers were swimming already, and would have paid to swim anyway. With a crippling deficit to tackle and tough decisions to take, this has become a luxury we can no longer afford.”

The Olympic 2012 Mascots have been unveiled!

Wenlock and Mandeville, encorporate icons such as london taxi lamps and olympic rings as bracelets.  They also come with their very back story where they began life a molten steel from the last supporting pillar of the Olympic Stadium and were lovingly moulded into cute mascots.

Wenlock, named after the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock where the ‘Wenlock Games’ was one of the inspirations that led  the founder of the modern Olympic movement Baron Pierre de Coubertin to create the Olympic Games.

Mandeville is named after Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire where in the 1940s, Dr.Ludwig Guttmann set up a new unit to help former soldiers suffering from spinal cord injuries. He encouraged them to take up sport, leading to the formation of the Stoke Mandeville Games, widely recognised as a forerunner of the modern Paralympics.

See their story…

The latest aerial images which were taken earlier this month show the construction progress on the some of the main venues including; the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velodrome and International Broadcast/Main Press Centre.

John Armitt, ODA Chairman said: “As we approach the halfway point of our toughest year in the construction of the Olympic Park, these new images show the visible progress being made. The structures of the ‘big five’ venues are already firm fixtures on the east London skyline and we remain on schedule…However there is no room for complacency as construction activity accelerates in the coming months.”

Take a look…

For full gallery, go to http://www.london2012.com

On May 12th it was announced that Eurostar had become a Tier Three sponsor of London 2012.

Eurostar is now the Official International Rail Services Provider and will provide London 2012 with arrival and departure services at St Pancras International for those competing and working at the Games.

It will also provide international rail services for London 2012’s operational requirements.

The first main event for Eurostar will be the Tri-City-Athlon (2010) which will involve participants swimming in Paris, cycling in Brussels and finally running in London!

Outside of its sponsorship, the Eurostar will of course be an obvious travel choice for many spectators from mainland Europe coming to see the games in 2012.

Nicolas Petrovic, Chief Executive of Eurostar, said: “We are proud to be partners with London 2012 and believe we will play a critical role in bringing people from all over Europe…”

Image Source: http://www.treehugger.com/Eurostar-train-travel.jpg