Today sees Hawks put into early action much of Seb Coe's hopes when the help organise a Primary Schools Rugby Festival in historic Victoria Park
One of the Glasgow's landmark parks it gave its name to one of Scotland's greatest athletic clubs it is also home to one of the world's oldest curling clubs Partick CC


THE HERALD REPORTS
DOUG GILLON ON WEDNESDAY: Cuts must not damage potential legacy from London and Glasgow



Doug Gillon, 25 May 2010 23.28

Hopes of Britain and Scotland maximising benefits from staging the 2012 Olympics and 2014 Commonwealth Games are under serious threat.

Swingeing economic cuts being imposed to stem financial decline may seriously compromise or even torpedo the fragile raft of legacy cargo which it’s hoped these events will deliver.

Legacy does not simply happen just because you host these Games. It must be planned. This column has already advocated a foundation-level coach education programme to ensure sports clubs across the country are prepared for the anticipated influx of kids inspired by Olympic and Commonwealth events. There will never be such an opportunity in Britain again.

Initiatives on increased participation, obesity, health statistics, social inclusion, vandalism, crime and drugs (already threatened in the climate of cuts) will stall at the starting gate if sports clubs are forced to turn away interested youngsters because they haven’t enough coaches. It would be the worst consequence for sport of the economic downturn.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has been ordered to cut £88m. The Olympic Delivery Authority must find £27m of that. Sport understands the notion of no pain, no gain. Yet no matter how DCMS orchestrates savings, it must not sacrifice coaching and legacy provision. And when Holyrood cuts its cloth, it must put the potential to change lives forever before slash and burn policies.

The jam has been spread too thin and the impact’s been diluted. You have to set realistic targets.
John Scott
I discussed these issues with Seb Coe and John Scott as London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 signed a historic co-operation agreement.

“Legacy is not going to fall into our laps – if you build it they will come. It doesn’t work like that,” said Coe, chair of the London Olympic organising committee. “We have a fantastic opportunity on the back of these championships, but we still need some coherent strategic thinking.”

Neither body is responsible for legacy delivery. Their job is to organise the event which becomes the vehicle for others to do that.

Glasgow 2014 chief executive Scott points to the 1000 people they will employ, whose skills and experience will be enhanced, making them attractive to the growing events industry. “That’s a huge potential legacy, and for 15,000 volunteers. It leaves a huge personal legacy in civic pride, a sense of giving something which is part of a coherent society. How do you put a value on that?

“People always seek empirical evidence of legacy benefits, but anyone involved in impact research knows you have to combine both empirical and anecdotal evidence. It’s about the impact on the individual, how to measure attitudinal change. That’s what a lot of this is about.

“Many cities have tried to do too much. The jam has been spread too thin and the impact’s been diluted. You have to set realistic targets. You can’t ignore or overstate the impact of staging the event itself, the physical impact that the city sees – continuing improvements. But if you don’t get the information on where you can take part in sport, and if you don’t have the resources – coaches and volunteers to capture those people – then you are not going to be able to capitalise on the interest.”

Like Coe, he is concerned that the economy could put the legacy at risk. “Anyone would be concerned that in this financial climate some opportunities presented by events like this may not be optimised. Yes, there are going to be cuts, but you always have choices. There is still going to be significant public money for investment.”

The key for sport now is to influence those who must make robust analysis of these choices. Sport has a poor history of effective lobbying. Learning that skill is now more important than ever before

This article was originally posted on 26-May-2010, 07:02 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 26-May-2010, 07:04.