Backed by a whole host of names including London 2012 medal winners Nicola Adams and Louis Smith, in addition to the likes of Prince William (HRH the Duke of Cambridge) and LOCOG boss Seb Coe, 'Join in Local Sport' will officially launch next weekend.
Focused on celebrating sport where it began for all great champions, their local sports clubs, ‘Join In’ will see over 5,000 events take place up and down the country as sports clubs everywhere open their doors and host activities.
The aim is to maintain the positive momentum around the Games and give millions of people who have been inspired by London 2012 an opportunity to translate this into taking part in sport whether as a participant or a volunteer.
To inspire participation, sporting icons such as Daley Thompson, Sharron Davies and Jonathan Edwards will undertake a cross-country challenge, anchored by broadcaster John Inverdale, visiting as many sports clubs and events as possible over one weekend.
The group, who will also be joined by current Olympians over the course of the weekend, will travel aboard the Join In “Battle Bus”, making spontaneous and scheduled stops along the way to visit events which have been set up by local sports clubs.
The events will cover more than 30 sports, from cycling to swimming, gymnastics to athletics and karate to canoeing, so there will be something for everyone - no matter what their sporting interests, age or ability.
David Moorcroft, former 5,000m world record holder and Director of Sport at Join in, said: “No host country has ever done what we are trying to do with the ‘Join In’ weekend and that is capture this magic moment for all time. The ‘Join in’ weekend is the ultimate opportunity to harness the enthusiasm generated by the Games, for sport and for volunteering, and channel it through local sports clubs - which is where every great champion starts out.”
People interested in finding out about a ‘Join In Local Sport’ event near them can visit www.joininuk.org where they can enter their postcode and search for events in their local area.
