Press Release: Coventry kids inspired by 2012 at Festival of Sport

Over 1,000 children from across the city have taken part in a 2012-inspired athletics event at a Coventry school.Lyng Hall School and Specialist Sports College in Blackberry Lane, Wyken, provided the venue for children from over 30 Primary Schools from the Coventry East School Sports Partnership to experience a range of athletic events and receive coaching tips during the city’s latest Festival of Sport.The children took part in a range of activities with particular focus on running, throwing and jumping skills. A selection of youngsters was also invited to take part in a pentathlon event and some pupils honed their dance moves by taking part in a closing ceremony for the festival.The five-day event was the latest instalment of the region’s Festival of Sport project and was organised by the Coventry and Warwickshire 2012 Partnership, delivered by the Coventry East School Sports Partnerships and funded by NHS Coventry.Festival of Sport project is a three-year scheme which aims to give children from schools across Coventry an opportunity to experience a variety of Olympic and Paralympic sports in the lead up to the 2012 Games while learning practically about the values associated with the Games.The project has been awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark, which is an accreditation that recognises innovative and exceptional projects that are directly inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.Will Bastin, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership assistant for the 2012 Games, said: “With London 2012 now just over two years away, more and more people are becoming excited about the Olympic and Paralympic Games coming to the UK. “We want to harness that excitement through projects like the Festival of Sport and use London 2012 as a catalyst to inspire more youngsters in Coventry and Warwickshire to participate in sport than ever before.“Through promoting the Olympic and Paralympic values of respect, excellence, friendship, courage, determination, inspiration and equality, we hope the festival will enable the children to take these principles and apply them positively to their everyday lives.”In order to encourage future participation, each child was provided with a booklet which contained facts about the sports experienced during the event and information on how to continue sport further through the junior sections of local athletics clubs, Coventry Sphinx and Coventry Godiva Harriers. Neil Parker, partnership development manager for the Coventry East School Sports Partnership, said: “The 2012 games has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to inspire and encourage youngsters to take up new sports and events like this are a brilliant platform for helping us to do that.“This event is about giving a large number of children from across our partnership the opportunity to experience new sports and hopefully they will continue with some of the activities they have learnt about through the Festival of Sport in the future.”Full list of schools in attendance:Wyken Croft, Howes, Manor Park, Whitley Primary, Edgewick, Courthouse Green, Walsgrave, Pearl Hyde , Richard Lee, Clifford Bridge, Stretton, Foleshill, All Saints , Corpus Christie, Stoke Heath, St Peter and Paul , Sir Frank Whittle, Potters Green, Aldermans Green, Moat House, Ernesford Grange, Alderman Farm, St Bartholomew’s, Sowe Valley, Good Shepherd, St John Fisher, Sacred Heart, St Gregorys, Little Heath, Henley Green.

Notes to editors:The Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership for the 2012 Games (CW2012) is a unique combination of public, private and voluntary organisations, working together to maximise opportunities for the sub-region arising from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.For more information visit www.cswp.org.uk/london2012* Coventry has been named as a Host City for London 2012 and will host Olympic football matches in 2012 as part of the UK-wide Olympic football competition at the City of Coventry Stadium in Phoenix Way.* Coventry has been awarded a London 2012 Live Site which will join the national network of 18 large Live Site screens around the UK in showing news, events and live screenings of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games from its location outside Coventry Transport Museum. * CW2012 has uncovered over 100 Coventry and Warwickshire Olympians and Paralympians dating back to 1900 to create a Hall of Fame and the first ever archive of its kind. The project has received special recognition from London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) – having been awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark.* Coventry and Warwickshire has 10 venues in the official London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp (PGTC) Guide and has hosted visits from several national Olympic committees in an ongoing attempt to attract teams to use the region as a training base.* Coventry and Warwickshire has over 2,000 registrations from companies interested in applying for 2012 Games-related contracts via the CompeteFor system, and businesses in the sub-region have won more contracts than any other area of the West Midlands.* Coventry will represent the whole of the West Midlands as part of London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad after a project called Godiva Awakes was named as the region’s representative in the Artists Taking the Lead project, funded by Arts Council England. Imagineer Productions will create a ten metre high Lady Godiva powered by 50 cyclists which will travel to London to take part in the opening ceremony.* The Festival of Sport is the second project from the Partnership to receive the Inspire Mark and is designed to provide schoolchildren with an Olympic and Paralympic experience in a festival environment and encompass the values of the Olympics.

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