Street Games Festival at Copper Box 15/08/13

Today activeNewham staff were responsible for escorting 200 young people to the Street Games Coco-Cola Mass Participation Festival. This was the first of many “mass-participation” festivals that Street Games and Coca-Cola have teamed up to deliver nationally. The event was held at the iconic Copper Box, which is now  a multi-sport venue at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The event also marked the launch of a three year partnership renewal between Coca-Cola and Street Games confirmed earlier this year, aimed at increasing youth participation into sport.

And it  all happened on our doorstep!

2000 children from across the country descended upon the Olympic venue, many of whom were visiting the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the first time. Visiting the park was not a first for me and many of the Newham kids but visiting the Copper Box specifically was a first for most of us.

The children were treated to a range of traditional sports including basketball, football, athletics but they also had the opportunity to experience new sports and activities that they had never tried before!

Talented Newham footballer with the ball (left) had everyone
on defence mesmerised!

Outdoor athletics track provided by activeNewham
for 100m dash enthusiasts.

From rollerskiing to parkour, canoeing to graffiti art  workshops and even opportunities to mess with a DJ mixing deck; it was the ultimate sporting and social oasis that the young people were able to engage with! Along with lots of picture-snapping and posing  for updates to Facebook and Twitter, lots of the Newham young people and their peers tried their hand at almost every activity available!

Never seen this before! And I'm sure neither have you!
Welcome to Roller Ski!

Newham teen (black shirt at back) waits impatiently
to have a go at parkour

With lots to pack in during  our four and a half hour stay, I can safely say the event was a success, a great sight to see and absolutely fun-filled.

activeNewham’s participation in this by supervising the 200 young people continues to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring that Newham youth live active and sporting lives and get the opportunity to experience such amazing activities taking place within walking distance of where most of them live. With lots of sport camps and activities coordinated during the summer in the borough, it was a lovely opportunity for staff members to observe and attend an externally organised event take place at the Olympic Park which benefited lots of young people from near and far.

“Legacy” lives on!

Sainsbury's Race to Rio Day

Friday 26^th July 2013 marked the second day when members of the public were allowed to enter the now-hallowed grounds of the amazing Olympic Stadium. The first day being associated with the National Lottery Anniversary Run, which happened the week prior; a 5 mile run around the Olympic park, with participants concluding by crossing the finish line on the inside track at the stadium. 

The Sainsbury’s Race to Rio event was launched with the aim of getting as many children active in sport and to support the development of the next generation of Paralympians, alongside native sons and Paralympic champions Jonnie Peacock and David Weir and many others.  With Sainsbury’s contributing £10 to the British Paralympic Association (to meet their target of a £57,500 donation) for every child that completed a mile (4 laps) around the track, there were many reasons for the kids involved to be totally excited about the opportunity.

Along with this fantastic opportunity, the kids were treated to meeting Tony Minechiello, athletic coach of Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, got a VIP pass to the top of the ArcelorMittal Orbit (which doesn't open to the public until April 2014) and even got to meet, get autographs and question Paralympic athletes, like Dan Greaves in person, who were specially brought in for the event.


...London skyline from viewing deck of Orbit. Can you make
out which iconic London buildings are in the distance?



View from under ArcelorMittal Orbit...

Well that’s it for the introduction!

The kids from Cumberland School, as well as athletes from Newham’s disability athletics clubs, multi-sports ability club and volunteers from Newham & Essex Beagles were all in attendance. Also participating were 100 Sainsbury’s customers who won an in-store competition.

Fiona Miley (activeNewham staff member) makes a face
after being told it was a children's only race!

From their spotlight moments of running for various broadcasting houses including the BBC, who covered a live segment of all the kids doing a 100 meter dash, to them being followed by camera crews to be shown on the stadium screens, just like the "real" athletes would on a game-day, coaching tips from world-class coaches and everything listed before, they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves! The exuberance shown by the children and their moments of immense concentration when listening to the coaches and athletes available was incredible to see! You could almost hear the voices inside their heads saying "Maybe if I impress Tony, he might want to coach me!" or "Wow, how can I become a pro like Dan!"  The interest was so palpable, those mental ponderings were almost audible! 

Coral Nourrice's van couldn't keep up with Sainsbury's
staff member who raced to the finish line! 

You know what else was cool? Those remote controlled Sainsbury's delivery van replicas zooming round the track, getting their test drives in before being put to work for the weekend's big Anniversary Games event at the stadium. They were used to transport javelins and discuses thrown on the field to save a poor volunteer from running up and down, bringing them from where it was picked up, back to the throwing area. "Boys toys" one Sainsbury's staff member stated, only to have England Athletics and activeNewham's Athletics Activator Coral Nourrice, follow up to be the first to get her hands on the control and have a go!

It was amazing to see such a mix of able bodied and youngsters with various impairments be able to have the privilege to be the centrepiece for such an inspiring event. The proverbial road to Rio stretches 5750 miles from London and each child loomed larger than the mile they represented for those who completed their pledge on the iconic red track here in Stratford, E20. They were undoubtedly the stars of this moment! We could only hope that maybe some of them will return as thee stars, victorious for the UK after the Rio 2016 Games.

The stadium staff, representatives from Sainsbury's and the Sports and Activities team from activeNewham, who were all held out of the activities and reduced to cheerleaders and chaperones, all seemed quite pleased with the event. Being able to support and coordinate such an activity for such lucky kids was a pleasure. Hopefully this is just the start of such inspiring moments over the next few years till the euphoria of the next Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016.

Rio here they come!