London Athletics - About Us

About us ~ London Athletics (England Athletics)

In 2010 London Athletics created a strategy that set out the capital’s approach to securing a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Games.

The finished document which was the result of a series of public consultations involving key partners, clubs, coaches and volunteers identified the need to address 5 key areas of work:

  • Participation – Getting more people into the sport
  • Coaching – Recruiting more and developing existing coaches
  • Clubs and Schools – Improve delivery in places where athletics takes place
  • Competition – Focus more competition within London
  • Facilities – Develop a facilities plan in London

The first work area – participation – is the most pressing. Historically clubs have developed around the outside of London where the tracks are based, meaning that there is virtually no access for over 2 million Londoners to the sport of athletics. To address this, we have worked with the Greater London Authority to develop Run! – our Community Athletics Initiative.

Run! has 3 stages:

To employ activators in Inner London Boroughs to drive up participation levels and unearth raw talent;

Provide a series of athletics mass participation events across London in non-traditional settings such as shopping centres and train stations;

Support the creation of new clubs in central London.

In December 2010 Boris Johnston announced the GLA’s commitment of up to £200,000 for the project over the next two years. A similar sum has also been secured through England Athletics, a number of Local Authorities and partners such as Street Games.

In addition to delivering the London Strategy, London Athletics performs the same roles as other England Athletics Regional Councils. These include working alongside the paid staff to ensure that EA national initiatives – such as Athletics Networks and the Local Coach Development Programme – are being delivered successfully in London. As a group of elected and co-opted volunteers, they serve to represent the views of London clubs and collectively strive to develop all aspects of the sport in London.