Thousands of schools across the capital will today (Feb 2) be able to find out how many free tickets they are set to receive to this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. In line with the Mayor’s promise one in eight London school children will get a seat at the world's greatest sporting event at no cost to them, their school or the taxpayer.
In the last three years, 2,419 schools in the capital, attended by more than 90% of the capital’s 10-18 year old students, have joined the London 2012 ‘Get Set’ education programme. In a partnership between the Mayor and LOCOG, London schools which joined the network before the end of last year became eligible for a share of 125,000 tickets through the London 2012 Ticketshare scheme.
Each of these schools can, from midday today, find out how many tickets they are set to receive to events being held at the Olympic Park and other iconic venues such as Wembley Stadium and Lords by logging into their ‘Get Set’ account.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “These tickets will ensure that in every part of London someone you know will be heading to an event at one of our terrific Olympic and Paralympic venues. These are London’s Games so it’s only right that the next generation are right at the heart of the action. Watching some of world’s greatest athletes reach for gold, these young Londoners will form a huge part of what could be the most enduring legacy of these Games – a generation inspired and motivated to achieve their best in the classroom and out on the playing field.”
Chair of LOCOG, Seb Coe, said: “Get Set, our education programme, has been part of schools for nearly four years now and I’m thrilled that so many schools have embraced it to such an extent that they are eligible for tickets through the Ticketshare scheme. These tickets are made possible thanks to Prestige’s hospitality packages and will ensure that a hundred thousand or so young people will be at the heart of the action, seeing world class sport.”
Around 23,000 tickets have been allocated for events in venues on the Olympic Park, including the stadium for track and field sports, the Aquatics Centre and Basketball Arena.
A further 18,500 are available for events being staged at venues across London including Beach Volleyball at Horseguards Parade and Archery at Lord's Cricket Ground, and 18,000 London school children will get the chance to visit Wembley Stadium to watch Olympic football.
More than 5,500 tickets will be available for sports at venues on the outskirts of the capital, including rowing at Eton Dorney, canoe slalom and sprint at Lee Valley White Water Centre and mountain biking at Hadleigh Farm, Essex. The remaining 60,000 tickets will give youngsters access to the 2012 Paralympic Games athletics events being held in the Olympic Stadium.
Ticketshare tickets are donated through a levy placed on London 2012 hospitality packages sold by Prestige Hospitality. Once allocated it will be up to each individual schools how they distribute their tickets, following guidelines issued through the Get Set programme.
As well as getting young Londoners enthused by the Games themselves the Mayor has, through his Sports Legacy Fund, already invested more than £30m in grassroots sports across the capital. This investment is designed to get thousands more people fit and active and provide a major boost for sport in London by the 2012 Games.
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Notes to Editors
- Launched by the Mayor and LOCOG in October 2010 the Ticketshare scheme aims to provide up to 1 in 8 London schoolchildren, between the ages of 10 and 18, with a ticket to the Olympic or Paralympic Games. In total there are 125,000 tickets. In order to obtain the free tickets schools and colleges had to join the Get Set Network.
- 2419 London schools are eligibly to receive tickets. This includes public and private schools.
- This is 83.9% of the total number of schools that were eligible for Ticketshare. 91.7% of London’s 10-18 year old students attend these schools and are therefore in with the chance of getting a ticket.
- The majority of the schools that haven’t got tickets are independent schools which are not within local authority control.
- 91% of eligible state schools in London have claimed their tickets.
- In every London borough at least 81% of state schools will receive Ticketshare tickets. 100% of state schools in Barking and Dagenham, City of London, Enfield, Greenwich, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest will receive Ticketshare tickets.
- All schools participating in Get Set are eligible for tickets from LOCOG if they commit to the Olympic and Paralympic values (friendship, excellence and respect, inspiration, determination, courage and equality), encourage their students to achieve their ‘personal best’ and run competitions in the school to determine their ticket allocation.