A Helping Hand for the Olympics

Britain’s capital city is gearing up for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games which will be held in London and the surrounding areas during the summer season. London hosted the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948 so the 2012 event will be the third time the games have been held in Britain.

The opening ceremony on 27 July heralds the beginning of a sixty day festival of sport and culture which organisers are hoping will be a memorable event for athletes and spectators alike.

An internationally recognised event such as the Olympic Games takes a great deal of careful planning and organisation and the funds available play a major role in making the games achievable to begin with.

The National Lottery have played a key role in making the 2012 Olympic Games possible, with an estimated £2.2bn of lottery money being donated towards the event, half of which is coming from Olympic themed lotteries. The remainder of the funding is being raised from existing sports funding and this is by far the largest single project ever funded by the National Lottery.

The British lottery is one of the few lotteries in the world with an increasing income and Camelot, operator of the National Lottery in Britain, have a commendable record for raising money, particularly for worthwhile and charitable causes.

A new lottery Scratchcard, Olympic Champions, was launched to help raise funds for London 2012. The Olympic Champions Scratchcard costs £2 and offers players the chance to win a variety of instant cash prizes, ranging in value from £2 to £60,000.

The new scratch card is one of a series of games expected to raise the required funds by 2012 and is just one way in which British residents can take part in supporting the Olympic Games.

The money raised by the National Lottery will partly fund the venues and infrastructure required to host the Olympic Games as well as facilitating work that will lead to increased participation in sport from members of the London community whilst also improving community services and facilities for local residents.

One of the reasons why London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games relates to issues of environmental and social sustainability so making improvements to the city of London, and beyond, is an important part of the overall process and something that National Lottery funding is playing a key role in.

With a helping hand from lottery funding, the Olympic project is the largest urban renewal project in east London since the development of the Canary Wharf business district in the 1980s. Additions such as an 80,000-seat main stadium, aquatic centre and facilities for athletes will all help to rejuvenate East London and improvements to public transport will benefit anyone living in, or simply visiting, the city.

Thousands of jobs will be created as a result of these urban improvements with as many as 50,000 jobs being created from the east London development alone.