Securing a Legacy from London 2012 – The London Strategy Plan

Athletics in London is a sport re-generating as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games approach. Internal re-structuring of the sport has given new impetus to London’s athletes and their supporters to grow around a London identity and become major beneficiaries of the legacy effects of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

To allow these benefits to be obtained it is now necessary to ensure that better organisation is delivered and to seize the opportunity of increasing the London athletics community by reaching into the 2 million Londoners who currently have limited or no access to the sport.

The London Strategy Plan Guiding principles

In addition to planning for significantly elevated levels of interest in athletics around and during the 2012 Games the London Strategy Plan has two guiding principles:
1. to use the Games as a catalyst to repair the infrastructure and perception of the sport of athletics to allow the sport to flourish after the Games;
2. to use the Games to reach large parts of London’s population with no meaningful current access to the sport, notably in the Inner London areas.

Five Rings

Having appraised the starting point London Athletics has decided to borrow from the Olympic
movement and focus its efforts on five key areas, equivalent to the five Rings of the Olympic symbol.
For each area we have assessed the current situation and developed a number of strategies. These have been prioritised and we set out here the key strategic action for each Ring area. The London Strategy Plan document contains fuller discussions on each of these areas and more detailed recommendations.

Participation
More people in the sport.
Key action – Develop and implement a Community Athletics Participation Model principally targeted at geographic areas with limited access to the sport. The Run! project which has secured funding from the London Mayor’s Office will help us to reach more people in the Inner London Boroughs but work will be done across the capital.

Coaching
More, better coaches.
Key action - Accelerate England Athletics coaching strategy in London by appointing Head of London Coaching tasked with identifying London specific issues and driving delivery of higher quantities and quality of coach related activity.
We have secured London Mayor’s Office funded subsidies for people involved in athletics in London who undertake coaching qualifications (subject to criteria).

Clubs and Schools
Where we do our athletics – making them work better and together.
Key action - Drive better delivery through the McCain Athletics Network programme in London, using it as a base to develop stronger clubs and more systematic links with schools

Competition
The expression of the sport.
Key action – Focus more competition activity within London on a continuing basis by encouraging regionalisation of existing competition and increasing the capacity of volunteers and officials to support it.

Facilities
Tracks need a voice.
Key action – Develop a Facilities Plan in London to allow us to advocate on behalf of Londoners for better everything – maintenance, access, affordability.

The background to The London Strategy Plan

Athletics in London is a sport re-generating as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games approach. Internal re-structuring of the sport has given new impetus to London’s athletes and their supporters to grow around a London identity and become major beneficiaries of the legacy effects of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

To allow these benefits to be obtained it is now necessary to ensure that better organisation is delivered and to seize the opportunity of increasing the London athletics community by reaching into the 2 million Londoners who currently have limited or no access to the sport.

For 2012 and beyond

The main volunteer bodies providing athletics in London, the athletics clubs and their elected representative body, the London Regional Council of England Athletics (‘London Athletics’), have accordingly combined to produce the Strategy Plan for athletics in London (the London Strategy Plan) both in anticipation of the effects of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games and on a longer term basis.
It should be understood from the outset that the London Strategy Plan sets out to deliver benefits for London as its purpose. It is set within national strategies for athletics being implemented by its National Governing Bodies (NGBs). In particular England Athletics introduced a new strategy in 2009 in conjunction with Sport England focused on increasing activity levels materially by funding club networks (the McCain Athletic Network Programme) and coach development. London has already benefited from this plan with for example some £500,000 committed to seven London McCain’s networks over the next three years.
The London Strategy Plan aims to make additional interventions to address London’s specific requirements.

Consultation

The London Strategy Plan was produced after consultation with the London athletics clubs. It has been prepared by a combination of volunteers and the professional staff of England Athletics. London Athletics considers this symbolic of the need to engage all sides of the sport to achieve the strategy’s aims. The London Strategy Plan has been endorsed by UK Athletics (UKA) and England Athletics the two senior NGBs. It has also been endorsed by the Mayor of London’s Office. It is noted by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) as being consistent with its aims to promote a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games.

Existing provision

At the outset it is acknowledged that the provision of athletics in London is both complex and uneven. Accordingly getting the sport into shape to be able both to cope with the demands associated with the Olympic and Paralympic Games and to capitalise on the long term benefits for London’s population, will be a tough job. Implementation of change to athletics in London is rendered difficult by a number of key factors, including:

• The multiplicity of different organisations involved in provision in the 33 London Boroughs;
• The way in which athletics has come to be organised over time;
• The fact that much of the provision is by volunteers rather than paid staff. It is evidently more difficult to drive consistent delivery without the benefit of financial stimulus and an embedded control structure, though paradoxically the advantage of this state of affairs is that, if the London Strategy Plan is successful, it will have greater sustainability if the volunteer community buys into it than if it were an imposed structure.

London Athletics has already developed an extensive in-depth knowledge of and communication with the multiplicity of agencies delivering the sport in London through its programme of Local Athletic Partnerships. This depth of knowledge will be a key factor in delivering the London Strategy Plan, explains why London Athletics is ready to move on the plan straight away and how initial results, such as securing funding for the Run! project and subsidies for Coach Education courses for people involved in the sport in London, have been achieved.

By providing leadership and coordination with a clear London focus London Athletics expects to capitalize on a ground-swell of support to drive the sport beyond 2012.

Endorsements

From the Greater London Authority, Mayor’s Office
I am very pleased to endorse the London Strategy Plan for Athletics.
In developing this plan, London Athletics has worked closely with all key stake - holders, including City Hall, and we now have a frame - work in place that allows us to develop the sport in a coherent, strategic manner.
I am committed to delivering a genuine grassroots sporting legacy for Londoners from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Athletics has a key role to play in this. London has a rich athletics heritage and there is undoubtedly a huge enthusiasm for the sport amongst its inhabitants. I view this plan as a major step towards ensuring that athletics in London can thrive again - by giving every Londoner the opportunity to participate.
I look forward to working with London Athletics - and England Athletics - in the years ahead to deliver this plan, putting athletics at the heart of London's Olympic legacy.
Kate Hoey
Commissioner for Sport

From United Kingdom Athletics
UK Athletics is delighted to endorse the strategy developed by the London Regional Council of England Athletics.
The strategy seeks to secure additional investment into clubs, coaching and facilities to ensure that the sport of Athletics is well positioned to support the inevitable surge in interest in athletics – the premier Olympic sport – in the build up to, and aftermath of, 2012.
Importantly, the strategy proposed by the clubs and volunteers represented by the London Council endorses the existing national strategies of UK Athletics, England Athletics and Sport England, and seeks to accelerate delivery of those plans and aspirations through partnership working across London. This is an excellent model and is one that could usefully be replicated in other major cities across the UK to maximise local investment into a 2012 legacy for athletics.
Neils de Vos
Chief Executive

From the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Thank you very much for sharing your strategic plan for athletics in London with me.
As you know, a sporting legacy for London was central to our original desire to bid for the Games and I know was instrumental to the IOC's decision to grant them to London back in 2005.
I welcome the London Region of England Athletics plan as a valuable addition to the debate about what form legacy should take for athletics in London.
I look forward to seeing the fruits of your labours as part of England Athletics and UKA's overall legacy work in the years to come.
Sebastian Coe KBE
Chairman