Mayor celebrates two years to go to 2012 Paralympic Games in Trafalgar Square

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today celebrated the countdown to two years to go to the London 2012 Paralympic Games by turning Trafalgar Square into a Boccia court. Gold medal winning ParalympicsGB Boccia athletes and members of London Boccia clubs showed the Mayor how to play a game of the unique Paralympic sport, designed for athletes with severe disabilities.

They were joined in the Trafalgar Square celebrations by Paralympian wheelchair basketball player, Ade Adepitan, members of British Paralympic Association and GB Boccia and BT, official partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The ParalympicGB Boccia team is currently ranked number one in the world, having claimed gold at the Beijing Paralympic Games and recently won three silver medals at the World Championships in Portugal.

London is extremely proud to be hosting the 2012 Paralympic Games, a unique and outstanding opportunity for the capital. The Mayor is working hard with the organisers to ensure that both the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be an unparalleled triumph and the most accessible ever. Hosting the Paralympics in 2012 is especially important for England as the Paralympics Games have their origins here following a competition in 1948 for wheelchair athletes at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. To mark the build-up to two years to go, the Mayor announced that the iconic and renowned location of Trafalgar Square will be a Festival Live Site during the Paralympic Games.

In choosing this London landmark, recognised around the world, visitors from home and abroad will be at the heart of the celebrations in 2012. With an audience capacity of 10,000, live coverage from the Paralympic Games venues will be screened in the Square and a range of live cultural performances will take place. Visitors to Trafalgar Square will also enjoy a series of free set-piece events to coincide with activity in the Olympic Park, such as the opening and closing ceremonies. Building on the successes of the annual Liberty Festival, this is an opportunity to showcase some of the amazing creative talent developed from disability arts groups, disabled artists and producers alongside mainstream arts groups.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Trafalgar Square is an iconic London landmark, recognised around the world and a natural focal point of the city. I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to mark the capital’s joy in hosting the Paralympic Games than making it an official Live Site and the focus for public celebration. I thank BT and the organisers for their enthusiasm, and helping to fund and create today's fitting celebration. 

“The whole of London will celebrate like never before when the Paralympics come to town in 2012 and I am adamant that as many people as possible experience the feelings of exhilaration and national pride that the Paralympic Games create. With just two years to go the message from London to visitors and Paralympic athletes is loud and clear – let the celebrations commence as the Paralympics truly come home.”

LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe said: “The London 2012 Paralympic Games are now only two years away. It’s time for the British public to start planning their involvement in the Paralympic Games. There are a whole host of ways to get involved – if you want to buy one of the 2 million tickets we will sell next year, then sign up to our ticketing registration scheme now. If you want to volunteer at the Paralympic Games, come to our website and find out if you’ve got what it takes to be a London 2012 Gamesmaker. London is truly excited about hosting the Paralympic Games, and we look forward to welcoming the world in 2012.”

Suzi Williams, BT Group marketing and brand, said: “BT is a long-time passionate supporter of Paralympic sport. We are committed to helping these amazing athletes be the very best they can be and we are proud and excited to be part of it. With just two years to go now, it’s great to be here in Trafalgar Square with the Mayor looking forward to the excitement and celebration that the Paralympic Games will bring to London and helping everyone get involved.’’

Phil Lane, CEO of ParalympicsGB said: “Seeing Boccia being played here today and hearing the great news that Trafalgar Square will be a Festival Live Site in 2012 mean that we are a few steps closer to our goal of getting the whole nation right behind the Games and of course, the British team. The Games will be an incredible experience for Londoners and all the athletes are working really hard to make them proud.”

In marking two years to go to the Paralympic Games, the Mayor called on people who have a passion for all things London to volunteer their time to become London Ambassadors during the Games. The Mayor is looking for London Ambassadors to be as diverse as the London population, reflecting the capital’s cosmopolitan make-up, knowledge of different cultures, and the many languages spoken. The programme offers volunteering opportunities to people with disabilities and the recruitment and training facilities are fully accessible, as are the volunteer sites in 2012. He was joined in his call to action by Tim Prendergast, the 800m Gold medal winning New Zealand Paralympian who lives and trains in London.

Commenting on the programme, Tim Prendergast said: "To supplement my track training for competing in the 2012 Paralympics I often run through the streets and parks of London. Even though I am a born and bred New Zealander I always feel at home here and appreciate the opportunities and welcome that London offers. Having the 2012 Paralympics in London brings the best of both world's together, with a fantastic host city and the most inspiring and passionate athletes competing at the top level. London Ambassadors will have a big role to play in this welcome and my wife and I are delighted to be involved with the programme and have already begun our countdown."

Events in Trafalgar Square today complement the Mayor’s work in increasing physical activity and sporting participation across the capital and creating a long lasting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He was joined by his Sports Commissioner, Kate Hoey, and London Boccia groups, including Wembley based PACE that has received funding and support from the Mayor’s £30m sport legacy fund to deliver free sports coaching.

Last month the Mayor published ‘Inclusive and Active 2’ in partnership with Interactive and NHS London. It is a London-wide strategy for increasing participation amongst disabled Londoners. To kick-start the implementation process, every organisation that receives support under the Mayor’s £30m legacy programme will be required to demonstrate how they will implement the requirements set out in the strategy.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1.    The London 2012 Paralympic Games take place on 29th August - 9th September 2012
2.    For more information on Boccia go to www.gb-boccia.org. Beijing Boccia Paralympic Gold Medallists Dan Bentley, Zoe Robinson and David Smith joined the Mayor today and demonstrated how the game is played.
3.    ParalympicsGB’s, mission statement is to send the best prepared team to every summer and winter Paralympic Games. They work closely with all 19 summer and 4 winter sports to achieve this. Only the very best athletes from the sports are selected to represent ParalympicsGB at a Paralympic Games.
4.    The Mayor is calling on people with a passion for all things London to volunteer to be one of the 8,000 welcoming faces that will greet the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected to descend on London for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information and to register go online to www.londonambassadors.org.uk. Application forms will be sent out in January.
5.    BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in more than 170 countries.  Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services.  BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.
BT is proud to be the official communications services partner for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In the year ended 31 March 2010, BT Group’s revenue was £20,911 million.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group.  BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt  

6. To mark two years to go to the London Paralympic Games the second annual report of the London 2012 Equality and Diversity Forum was published. The report documents progress of the 2012 family in making London 2012 everyone’s Games (covering activity undertaken from April ‘09 - June ’10),  To view the report go to http://www.london.gov.uk/publication/working-towards-inclusive-games

7.    'A Sporting Future for London' sets out the Mayor's plans to increase physical activity and sporting participation across the capital as a long lasting legacy arising from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. More information about the Mayor's priorities for sport can be found at: www.london.gov.uk/priorities/sport. Highlights of the Mayor’s work to date inlude:
-    Inclusive Fitness Initiative: The Mayor has committed £160k in 2010-11 to IFI London, a programme that helps gyms, health clubs and public facilities to become fully accessible to people with disabilities. This includes training of staff, helping with layout design and ensuring that equipment is appropriate. The first IFI accredited site in London will be opened at Paddington Rec on September 6th 2010, with another 40+ sites expected to receive accreditation over the course of the year.
-    Panathlon Challenge: The Panathlon Challenge provides a programme of coaching and competitive sport to seriously disabled young Londoners in special schools – many of whom would otherwise undertake no sport or physical activity whatsoever. Through the Mayor’s support (£86k in 2009-10), Panathlon was able to operate over 28 London boroughs, with Barking and Dagenham being crowned champions at the London Finals on June 24th.
-    Playsport London: Freesport: Each year through this programme, the Mayor provides grants of up to £1500 to around 250 clubs and community organisations to deliver free sports coaching to Londoners. A number of the groups focused specifically on providing coaching to disabled people. However, beyond this, every single group funded was required to be fully inclusive of disabled people.
8.    The Mayor is supporting the Liberty festival, a showcase and celebration of the artistic and sporting talent to be found within the Deaf and disabled community. This year's event includes a specially commissioned sport and arts "face off", bringing together artist Rachel Gadsden with athletes from Wheelpower, the sporting organisation based at Stoke Mandeville, the birthplace of the Paralympic Games. The award-winning artist will capture the action live as players are put through their paces in Wheelchair basketball and tennis. The Liberty Festival is organised by the Mayor of London, produced by Greenwich+Docklands Festivals, and supported by Transport for London, Unison and Arts Council England. Liberty 2010 will be held on Trafalgar Square on Saturday 4th September from 1pm-5pm. For more information go to www.london.gov.uk/liberty

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Press information is available from Helen Collier and Richard Brookes in the Mayor’s Press Office on 020 7983 4020 / 6550 or by emailing economicdesk@london.gov.uk  (Not for publication)
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