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London was awarded the 2012 Games on the back of one of the most ambitious promises in Olympic bidding history - inspiring children across the world to take up sport.

But nearly three years on, the government has yet to come up with a specific plan to make this happen in Britain, never mind in the rest of the planet.

That was one of the main talking points among delegates at the recent annual conference of the Central Council of Physical Recreation, the national body which represents grass roots sport.

CCPR chief executive Tim Lamb, the former England cricket supremo, told me it was crucial that the government comes up with new cash to support pilot schemes across the UK aimed at increasing participation.

"The time really is now for this legacy plan, " he said. "2012 is a lot more than just winning medals. The true legacy should be about increasing participation. We have to have schemes supported by realistic budgets. It can't be just reworked programmes that people have talked about in the past."

The rumour is that Olympics minister Tessa Jowell will unveil the "Olympic Legacy" plan in the next few weeks.

Despite being later than originally announced, there is little confidence that the plan is going to contain a lot of detail.

Grass roots sport has already lost millions of pounds in National Lottery funding because of the Olympics. There are serious concerns that they will not get any cash for any new initiatives.

I'm reminded of crucial advice from Michael Payne, the former International Olympic Committee marketing director.

He told me: "To get real benefit of the Games, you have to spend extra money around the edges of your plans - grass-roots sports, tourism etc. If you don't do that, you risk missing out on the real impact of the Games."

Adrian Warner is BBC London's Olympics correspondent. Our FAQs should answer any questions you have.


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  • 1. At 12:38pm on 30 May 2008, prombar wrote:

    If the true legacy of London 2012 is about grass roots benefit and participation then the Government did little to encourage this aspiration when, with their draconian trademark legislation,they effectively blocked all but major corporate sponsors from benefiting from any association with the 2012 Games. To the vast tax paying , and 2012 underwriting population, the Games are not allowed to exist.
    The attitude of LOCOG was typified by their well publicised treatment of Matthew Parker, a web developer, who designed a site www.london2012rentmyhouse.com which, as in Sydney 2000, would help with the availability of affordable accomodation for the millions of visitors who would otherwise be faced with premium prices, if they could find anything. Thankfully,and although follwing legal threats "2012" has been removed from the domain name, the generic site www.londonrentmyhouse.com is gathering recognition as Londoners become aware of the opportunity the site offers.

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