St Edmundsbury, which has already submitted a bid to become a host for Olympics teams in the run-up to the event, is celebrating the news that Londonhas won the bid to become host city in 2012.
"It's great news," said Cllr Andrew Varley, Cabinet member for Arts, Leisure and Culture. "It's fantastic for London, for the country as a whole and fantastic for St Edmundsbury as well. Not only will we have a range of top class facilities in place where athletes could train, but their example, both in the run-up to and during the Olympics, will undoubtedly enthuse a whole new generation of young people and encourage them to take up sport."
With the borough less than two hours away from the Olympic site in the east end of London, St Edmundsbury - already a prime visitor location - will also be looking to welcome thousands more tourists, boosting the local economy.
"We hope that this news will lead to a greater investment in sport throughout the country and we would certainly be looking to make the most of this wonderful opportunity to attract any such funding to the borough which would bring huge benefits for our young people," Clllr Varley added. "Experience in other countries has shown there's an overwhelming response from volunteers assisting in the staging of the games, and I'm sure our residents will be among them. The legacy of that is they will bring those skills back to our community. I'd like to wish all our young St Edmundsbury athletes well in the Suffolk Youth Games this Sunday - there may even be a future Olympian among them. I'm sure we will all be cheering on any athletes from St Edmundsbury who have aspirations to get into the Olympics team."
ENDS
ISSUED BY MARIANNE HULLAND, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757034. marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk
