Olympic Games : Director of Culture

"I can't wait to get started in my new role as Director of Culture"

Ruth, Director of Culture.A whirlwind day – we announce that I am Director of the Cultural Olympiad – literally in a whirlwind of snow, with a photo shoot of me in the pouring snow – and I get deluged by wonderful messages and texts of welcome and congratulations.

The best job in the UK, and whilst people often talk about 'a once in a lifetime opportunity', it seems unlikely that I will ever get the chance again to work on such an enormous and exciting project.
I can't wait to start – and I am only waiting until February – and then I hope I can start listening to and learning from all my new colleagues in LOCOG, all the supporters round the UK who have already signed up to be the best friends, supporters and participants in the cultural events that we are planning.

Photo of the Olympic park 2012

The sun rises over the Olympic Stadium after heavy snowfall on the Olympic Park in this 'photo of the week' taken by one of the London 2012 webcams.
Related blog categories:

* webcam
* olympic park
* Olympic Stadium

Giving students the chance to get a place on the Press Operations team at Games-time

I am so proud that LOCOG has worked with Sheffield Hallam University to insert an Olympic-related module into each of three well-respected undergraduate courses from January 2010.

This means that students will get the opportunity to learn about the Olympics and, more importantly, understand what goes into organising the facilities and services for 5,600 journalists and photographers at the Games.

Those students who make the grade will be offered an opportunity to be part of the almost 3,000-strong Press Operations team at the Olympic and Paralympic Games!

This is the first time that modules have been integrated into an academic course, certainly from over two years out before the Games. LOCOG and Sheffield Hallam have worked together to provide courses of practical value to students.

They will learn what press operations is all about, and have the opportunity to work on one of the many test events we will be staging in the run up to 2012. In addition, some International Sports Federations have expressed interest in providing guest lecturers and offering certain students the opportunity to work at their international events.

I have been involved with press operations – at national and international level – for over 23 years and have had the privilege of working on five Olympic Games.

As a student at Bristol University in the early 1980s I yearned to work in the international sports arena. The best experience I gained was from serving as the Athletic Union President – juggling a schedule of limited minibuses and an over stretched budget for more than 25 sports clubs was a challenge. Using this experience, my modern languages degree and enthusiasm as sportswoman and coach, I managed to get a junior position at the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) and the rest is history.

I have been lucky enough to meet many sports stars and heroes along the way.

However, this is not why I have stayed in this challenging profession. The thing that has motivated me the most and given me the most pleasure is working with volunteers and seeing people and careers develop through working on incredible events.

Potentially up to 350 students could find themselves with a chance to work on London 2012. They will be along side event professionals and people who will give freely of their time and extensive experience – perhaps from other fields in life.

It will be intense, exhausting, dramatic and incredibly rewarding. Not for the faint hearted. And the exciting truth is that London 2012 has no chance of success without the contribution of a knowledgeable and enthusiastic workforce.

What an opportunity for a young person who wants to have a career in sports event management. And what a legacy for sports management in this country! source : london2012.com

Make a difference to London 2012?

There are hundreds of bags of bodies beyond the UK who are aggressive by London 2012 and are allowance to accomplish abiding the Games will be a absurd success. And BT wants to accomplish abiding that these bodies are recognised.

No amount how big or baby their role – whether it’s the minibus disciplinarian demography approaching athletes to training, the abecedary ensuring her acceptance apprentice about the Olympic and Paralympic ethics or a neighbour acquirements a accent to advice visitors to the UK in 2012 – BT wants to apprehend from them.

BT has launched a antagonism to acquisition the accustomed bodies who are authoritative a aberration to London 2012. The champ will accept £5,000 and accept their account taken by a apple acclaimed photographer, which will go on affectation in the Civic Account Gallery.

My choice is Beth Tweddle, Apple Champion Gymnast. Beth is the best acknowledged British aerialist of our generation. Her achievement at the Apple Gymnastics Championships in London in October was amazing – and her grace, adventuresomeness and assurance will affect bags of kids on the alley to 2012.

When we bid for the Games, we were actually bright – we capital to use the ability of the Games to animate adolescent bodies all annular the apple to accept sport. Here in our own backyard, we accept a civic abundance in Beth Tweddle – a civil charlatan who champions her action and, in the ability and affection of her performance, will affect adolescent bodies all annular the country on the alley to 2012.

Beth is the apotheosis of the Olympic values, and addition we can all be appreciative of.

Chris Hoy nominated the Team GB Cycling technician, Tony Robinson. Jonathan Edwards has nominated Rob Young, who's accepting bodies about the UK aflame about and complex with the 2012 Games. Ade Adepitan nominated Owen McGhee, architect of the alms The Association of Wheelchair Children.

source : london2012.com

We're setting new standards for construction health and safety

It’s not aloof the acclimate that makes bloom and assurance professionals go cold, it is cerebration about what ability appear if addition got hurt.

The Olympic Park

At this date of the London 2012 architecture programme we are adverse up to two big challenges – a abundant access in the cardinal of workers on armpit as we appear afterpiece to the Games (there will be 11,000 workers at the aiguille of construction), and the risks that are produced because of the array of assignment we do.

The Olympic Park is accepting busier every day with deliveries that will access from the accepted amount of about 650 per day to about a 1,000 per day during the aiguille phase.

Last year, the UK saw the everyman anytime abstracts for accidents in construction, but still hundreds of bodies got aching beyond the UK industry and one actuality a anniversary absent their activity aloof accomplishing a day’s work.

This is why the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA's) bloom and assurance programme is so important.

The ODA has been alive with contractors on the Park to advance the accent of bloom and safety.

On the Olympic Park and Olympic Village we accept a almanac that makes us and our contactors feel actual proud. For the aboriginal time a aloft architecture programme employing bags of workers has a assurance almanac that matches up able-bodied with application in Abundant Britain. We accept been commended by Ministers who accept apparent our assignment in action, but we cannot be conceited - there are still challenges ahead.

There will be a aloft exercise throughout 2010, area the ODA works carefully with contractors and sponsors, to ensure that anybody knows what they are declared to be accomplishing and that there is able administration from supervisors, ensuring that, as able-bodied as accepting the job done, workers will be activity home cautiously every day.

Site workers

We accept done able-bodied and are still aloft our actual arduous aspiration of beneath than one blow for every actor hours worked. Already we accept accomplished eight sets of a actor hours formed after a reportable accident, but we can do better. The best ambition of all is for bloom and assurance to accomplish a huge effort, absorb everyone, anticipate lots of harm, and be 'invisible' as we move appear the Games.

Our efforts are already influencing others. Bodies visiting our armpit from the nuclear industry, architecture firms and audience accept led to fresh commitments beyond the UK to do better.

And with apery actuality the sincerest anatomy of flattery, we were captivated back Crossrail looked at our standards and approached us for a starting point for developing their own activity beyond London.

We appetite to bethink the Games for the appropriate reasons, which is why bloom and assurance is so important.

Source : london2012.com