Coventry and Warwickshire began our journey to London 2012 on the July 6, 2005 - a momentous day in the history of British Sport, as the eyes of the world watched and waited for Jacques Rogge to finally open that envelope in Singapore and say…London! Thankfully.

At the time, Coventry was the first UK City to be hosting the International Children’s Games (ICG), an International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned event where children from around the world, aged 12-15 come together to promote peace and friendship through sport.

As a result of London’s success, in Coventry, key, like minded individuals from major local organisations recognised the potential inspiration of an Olympic and Paralympic Games on home soil, only 95 miles away and had the vision to embrace and engage in this once in a life time opportunity by creating the Coventry and Warwickshire 2012 Partnership, (CW2012) a unique combination of public, private and voluntary organisations, working together to maximise the opportunities from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Tasked with securing tangible benefits across the sporting, cultural, business, educational and pre-Games training camp opportunities created by London 2012, CW2012 brings together key organisations from across the city and county, including local authorities, our two universities, chamber of commerce, tourism destination agencies and Coventry Primary Care Trust, amongst a number of other key local sporting, educational and cultural partners.

The focus and engagement of CW 2012 activity has been widely praised. None more so with the recent announcement that Coventry, through the Ricoh Arena - or City of Coventry Stadium as it will be known in 2012 -  is now an Olympic Host City after being named as the new Midlands venue to host Olympic football matches in 2012. This huge honour for our City is an unbelievable achievement and encapsulates the past five years of the Partnerships tireless effort and engagement in London 2012, whilst also providing a massive opportunity for the surrounding West Midlands region and economy.

It also is a prime example of organisations working together to achieve a common goal, through a sense of shard purpose, vision and ambition. Many people will not realise that the Olympic football competition is the second largest football event outside of the World Cup. More than 500 athletes from 28 nations will compete in 58 games over 18 days across six UK venues - and we cannot wait!



For us, this is not a football tournament being staged in Coventry, this is Coventry playing its part in a UK wide festival of sport and culture and the biggest sporting event in the world! Not bad for the ninth largest City in England.

We understand the privilege and responsibility that goes with being a part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 and through our CW 2012 Partnership, we will embrace the Olympic values and seize the opportunity to do everything we can to contribute to a making 2012 the best games ever.

From the 2005 ICG, the hosting of major sporting events is an area where Coventry has excelled due to the high quality of facilities, expertise in planning and deliverability of a wide range of sports. A legacy of the ICG, provided the skills, expertise and knowledge which led to Coventry being the first English city to host the UK School Games in 2007.

Since then other major sporting events such as the British Transplant Games in 2009, England under-21 Internationals, EDF Energy / Heineken Cup rugby, international netball and National League ice hockey and speedway all take place in the city and if being a 2012 Host City wasn’t enough, Coventry’s Ricoh Arena is also a venue for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, meaning that Coventry will host two out of the three largest sporting events in the world.

Our vision to inspire young people in Coventry and Warwickshire and to maximise the opportunities presented by London 2012 has delivered notable successes. Coventry and Warwickshire has 10 venues in the official London 2012 Training Camp Guide. We have been awarded a London 2012 Live Site, one of only 20 screens across the UK that will help make the Games come alive and bring together local communities across a wide and varied programme of sporting, artistic, educational and historical events to celebrate London 2012.

However, we feel our real distinguishing feature is the development of local projects which have been specifically tailored to reflect the Olympic and Paralympic values. These build upon Coventry and Warwickshire’s own heritage and innovation to provide everyone with their own London 2012 moment.

We have developed our own Festival of Sport: a London 2012 Inspire Mark project which reaches out to school children and gives them a taste of the Olympic and Paralympic experience. We have identified and celebrated the achievement of over 100 local Olympians and Paralympians, and we have used their experiences to inspire the next generation of young elite sportspeople who we support through a Team Coventry and Warwickshire programme.

We have sought to engage other independent organisations across Coventry in the Cultural Olympiad. The pinnacle of this engagement is Godiva Awakes

which is the West Midlands representative project for the national Artists Taking the Lead programme.

This emphasises the passion of many organisations within the city who wish to use London 2012 as a catalyst for activity and innovation.

We are fully engaged in supporting both regional and national 2012 initiatives, such as Get Set, Compete For and Open Weekend and the West Midlands Cultural programme through the projects of People Dancing and Community Games.

The year of 2012 is also of high importance to Coventry in relation to the 50^th anniversary of the consecration of Coventry Cathedral after being severely bombed during World War Two. In support of the IOC's mission of promoting peace and reconciliation, the consecration is to be the focal point of activity to service this value and is to be honoured by a confirmed visit from Her Majesty the Queen in the summer of 2012.

The next two years will be challenging times, but through our Partnership and by remaining focused and true to our vision and objectives that we initially set out to achieve, we are committed to maximising the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games for the benefit of our local communities, leaving a memorable legacy that we can be proud of.

Tom Clift is the Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership Manager, 2012 Games at CSWP Ltd