Inspiring future scientists and engineers
Budding young scientists and engineers from across Yorkshire and the Humber will be putting their creative minds to the test at the Big Bang Regional Fair 2010.
Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield, will host the fair on Thursday 8 July for hundreds of youngsters aged 12 to 19-years-old from schools across the region.
The event will showcase the innovative brains and entrepreneurial skills of our future workforce. From gadgets to goo and space to surgery, the fair will be packed with experiments and projects plus scientists and engineers to quiz about their pioneering jobs.
Youngsters will also be able to enter a host of competitions and potentially go on to win the engineering world’s version of an Oscar.
Organiser Richard Walton, from the centre for Science Education at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “Big Bang is the premier event in the Yorkshire and Humber region for showcasing the best creative engineering, technology, science, maths and design projects.
“The competitions at this event encourage students, both as individuals or as teams, to use their imaginations to design, create and manufacture an original idea into a viable product or system that could potentially change our everyday lives forever.
“If a student product stands out from the crowd it could become a commercial success and a life-changing addition to any of the youngsters’ CVs.
“This is an exciting event for us. It’s about inspiring youngsters with science and technology and showing them how it could lead to their dream job as a planetary scientist, a spacecraft engineer, environmentalist, a geoscientist or a bioprocess engineer for example. We are certain that classrooms across Yorkshire are a hub of activity as they prepare for the Big Bang.”
Accolades include the Young Engineer for Britain award, which is open to anyone aged 12 to 18-years-old. Participants can also compete for a place at the International Science and Engineering Fair in the USA.
The British Science Association’s CREST awards will also be awarded to youngsters who complete between 10 and 70 hours of project work in science, technology, engineering and maths related subjects.
The event will also feature the Master Cutler’s Made in Sheffield Innovation Competition 2010. The contest is aimed at students from secondary schools in Sheffield and Rotherham who link with local businesses in the engineering, manufacturing and technology sectors to work on exciting real life innovation challenges. It gives students a great insight into the world of work and helps businesses talent-spot potential future recruits.
The 10th annual Sheffield and Rotherham CAD/CAM event will also take place, showcasing work carried out by Sheffield and Rotherham secondary school students in the field of computer aided design and manufacture. Students will be presenting their designs and products to a panel of industrialists with displays of work in an adjacent room.
The Big Bang will also host a variety of workshops and presentations to show how science and engineering is used in real life. Karen Bennett from the University of Sheffield will show how nanobubbles are used to carry drugs to the brain to improve the treatment of illnesses such as motor neurone disease. Debbie Rogers, of the Young Engineers Stem Enrichment Experience, will be challenging people to make water flow upwards and Eddy the Engineer will talking about how the River Don engine was refurbished after the 2007 flood.
They still make them like they used to in Sheffield!
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is encouraging families to switch off their computer games and televisions and try their hand at traditional crafts and skills this Sunday instead.
Organisers of the Family Sunday event at the Industrial Hamlet on 4 July hope visitors bring along their creative spirit to sample time-honoured skills such as woodturning, lace-making, cane seat making and silversmithing during the ‘Traditional Crafts and Skills’ event.
In the courtyard, Ridgeway Forge will demonstrate traditional forge work and will relive tales of how our ‘steel city’ was built on the vibrant metal work industry.
Representatives from Sheffield’s Heeley City Farm will display Iron Age hand spinning and weaving techniques and Hillsborough College students will demonstrate how cuttlefish casting is used for jewellery making.
Sheffield’s nautical links will also be celebrated as visitors test their sea legs while learning how guns, steel plating, engine shafts, crankshafts for Spitfire engines and navigational instruments were famously crafted in the city, particularly during the allied war effort. The Industrial Hamlets’ living history characters will be on hand to entertain youngsters with traditional tales of the sea, including lots of merry sea shanty songs and pullee-haulee activities to entertain children.
Niki Connolly, Events and Marketing Officer for Sheffield Industrial Museum’s Trust, said: “Our traditional crafts and skills event at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is the perfect way to bring history to life and capture the imaginations of children, their parents and grandparents alike. There will be something to interest all generations of your family.
“Visitors will be able to learn about everything from lavender bag making to cuttlefish casting and silversmithing.
“The sea may be miles away from Sheffield, but the expert skills and craftsmanship that made Sheffield’s naval links internationally renowned will also be a fantastic subject for visiting families to learn about. We hope that children will especially love the storytelling sessions and will be singing our catchy sea shanty’s for weeks to come.”
Families can also create their own seascapes and join in a host of painting and crafts activities. Living history character Mr Tyzak, owner of Abbeydale Works, will conduct family tours of the site throughout the day.
The Sheffield University Drama Society will also be rallying support for their mini productions of ‘The Wheel Turns,’ due to be held at Bingham Park, Sheffield, on Saturday 10 July. The hour-long plays will tell the history of the Shepherd wheel and hopefully raise funds for its restoration through donations.
The Abbeydale Family Sunday: Traditional Crafts and Skills will take place between 11am and 4.45pm at the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Abbeydale Road South, Sheffield.
Admission is free.
A creative and crafty spirit at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet
July 2010
Families took a step back in time to see how Sheffield’s creative spirit was forged with skills such as cuttlefish casting, silversmithing and woodturning.
Visitors to the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet celebrated traditional crafts and skills at the second Abbeydale Family Sunday on July 4.
More than 500 curious visitors sampled a range of time-honoured skills and watched inspiring presentations from the likes of Ridgeway Forge, who demonstrated traditional forge work and told tales of how our ‘steel city’ was built on the vibrant metal work industry.
Representatives from Sheffield’s Heeley City Farm displayed Iron Age hand spinning and weaving techniques and Hillsborough College students showed how cuttlefish casting is used for silver jewellery making, bringing to life one of the hamlet’s traditional workshops. Gerry Marlow, of the Sheffield Woodturning Club, shared his expertise with local enthusiasts by giving demonstrations on his lathe.
Other demonstrators attending the event included the Sheffield Lacemakers, Friends of Botanical Gardens and the Sheffield University Drama Society who gave visitors a glimpse of the history behind another Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust site, Shepherd Wheel, currently undergoing restoration.
Sheffield’s nautical links were also celebrated as visitors tested their sea legs while learning how guns, steel plating, engine shafts, crankshafts for Spitfire engines and navigational instruments were famously crafted in the city. The hamlet’s living history characters entertained youngsters with traditional tales of the sea and merry sea shanty songs.
Families created their own seascapes and living history character Mr Tyzak, owner of Abbeydale Works, conducted hamlet tours.
Niki Connolly, Events and Marketing Officer for Sheffield Industrial Museums’ Trust, said it was a great event.
“Our traditional crafts and skills event at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet was the perfect way to capture the imaginations of children, their parents and grandparents alike. It was a fun way of bringing the industrial history of the hamlet to life and we had a really enthusiastic response from everyone that attended and discovered something new.
“I think the highlight was learning about the expert craftsmanship that made Sheffield’s naval links internationally renowned, particularly as the city is nowhere near the sea! The engaging storytelling sessions and vibrant sea shanties also created a great atmosphere and we hope youngsters will be singing them for weeks to come."
At the next Abbeydale Family Sunday on August 8 families can celebrate the Lammas Festival, which traditionally marks the first wheat harvest of the year. Visitors will also be able to look around the Victorian poacher’s kitchen and build their own scarecrow and corn dolls.
Admission is free.
GB boxers set for Four Nations Challenge
July 2010
A squad of Sheffield-based GB boxers will be hoping to make home advantage count when they take on the rest of the world at an international tournament in the city.
GB Boxing will face the national teams of France, China and Kazakhstan at the Four Nations Challenge amateur boxing tournament next month.
The action will take place from August 7-8 at the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield (EIS Sheffield), where the GB men’s and women’s Podium Squads are based.
It follows the success of the men’s squad at the recent European Championships in Moscow, where they won five medals, their best showing for over 50 years.
Khalid Yafai, Iain Weaver and Tom Stalker are amongst the European medallists who could compete at the Four Nations event, although the finals squads will be confirmed later this month.
GB Boxing’s Performance Director Rob McCracken, said: “The lads performed superbly in Moscow and this tournament will provide us with another good marker of progress ahead of 2012. All the competing nations won multiple boxing medals at the Beijing Olympics, so the competition is set to be tough, but our squad can only benefit from further international experience. It is important we keep moving forward, testing the boxers so we continue going from strength to strength.”
The event was brought to Sheffield by the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA) with support from Sheffield City Council's Major Sports Events Unit, working in partnership with BABA and UK Sport to bring multi-national training camps to the City.
It will attract scores of boxers and their coaching teams from across the world to Sheffield, maximising economic impact for the city.
Paul Hudson, general manager of EIS Sheffield, which is operated by Sheffield International Venues (SIV), said: “We are delighted to be hosting this high profile international competition and showcasing the GB Squad’s fantastic set up at EIS Sheffield to the national squads from France, China and Kazakhstan.
“The GB lads have been in great form and it will be fantastic to see them compete on home soil. Sheffield has a proud association with boxing and with the GB squad being based here at EIS Sheffield our facilities will be familiar to many of the boxers providing them with an advantage over the other nations.”
The semi finals are on Saturday, August 7, followed by the finals on Sunday, August 8. Doors open at 1pm and the boxing takes place on both days at 2pm.
Tickets are priced at £15 per day (ringside) and £10 per day (outer ring/balcony). Weekend tickets are available for £25 and £17.
For more information or to buy your tickets call 0114 2565656 or online at www.arenaticketshop.co.uk
Inspiring future scientists and engineers at the Big Bang
July 2010
Budding young scientists and engineers from across Yorkshire and the Humber put their creative minds to the test at the Big Bang Yorkshire and Humber 2010.
Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield, hosted the event on Thursday 8 July for hundreds of youngsters aged 11 years and above, from schools right across the region.
The event showcased the innovative brains and entrepreneurial skills of our future workforce and was packed with thriving experiments and pioneering jobs.
Richard Walton, from the Centre for Science Education at Sheffield Hallam University, organised the event alongside Sheffield City Council and Business and Education South Yorkshire.
“The competitions at this event encourage students, both as individuals or as teams, to use their imaginations to design, create and manufacture an original idea into a viable product or system that could potentially change our everyday lives forever. We had some fantastic competition entries that were bursting with imagination and sense of innovation. The judges had some tough decisions to make as the standard was so high.
“This was a really exciting event for us and we hope to have fulfilled our aim to inspire youngsters with science and technology. I’m sure we had some future planetary scientists, spacecraft engineers and environmentalists in our midst.”
Accolades included the Young Engineer for Britain awards, won by Maltby Academy for their ‘Tricky Twister’, Connor Plant at Wisewood School for his personalised PC case and also Hymers College.
The British Science Association’s CREST(CREativity in Science and Technology)gold, silver and bronze awards were also awarded to Silverdale School, Handsworth Grange Community Sports College, Maltby Academy, Temple Moore Science College and Tapton Secondary School who completed between 10 and 70 hours of project work in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) related subjects.
The event also featured the Master Cutler’s Made in Sheffield Innovation Competition 2010, aimed at students from secondary schools in Sheffield and Rotherham who link with businesses in the engineering, manufacturing, and technology sectors to work on exciting real life challenges. The award was achieved by the Sheffield Springs Academy.
The 10th annual Sheffield and Rotherham CAD/CAM event also took place, showcasing work carried out by Sheffield and Rotherham secondary school students in the field of computer aided design and manufacture. Students presented their work to a panel of industrialists and guests wanting to take a closer look at their projects. The CAD/CAM award was given to Maltby Academy, Rotherham, Wisewood Secondary School, Sheffield, and Handsworth Grange Community Sports College, Sheffield.
The judges also selected four schools to represent Yorkshire and the Humber at the live finals of the National Science & Engineering competition at the ExCel Centre in London next March. Our innovative Yorkshire team will include Maltby Academy for their ‘Tricky Twister,’ Connor Plant of Wisewood Secondary School for his personalised PC case, David Wilock of Bradford Grammar School for his dog hydrotherapy jacket and Emily Bentley of Hymers College and her teddy bear children’s alarm clock.
The Big Bang also hosted a variety of workshops and presentations to show how engineering is used in real life. Karen Bennett, from the University of Sheffield, demonstrated how using nanoengineering techniques, nanobubbles are used to carry drugs to the brain and improve treatment of diseases such as motor neurone disease. Ruth Amos, of StairSteady Ltd, inspired youngsters with her story about what it’s like to be a young engineer. Jonathan Ellis from Bloodhound SSC Education Project also brought to life how studying STEM subjects can lead to world record achieving and pioneering projects. Bloodhound has held the Land Speed Record for 25 years and was the first to break the sound barrier on land. Debbie Rogers, of the Young Engineers STEM Enrichment Experience, also challenged youngsters to make water flow upwards.
Representatives from the British Science Association joined judges from STEM-related companies from across the region such as Corus UK Ltd, The Industrial Trust, Dormer Tools and the Sheffield Metallurgical and Engineering Association.
London 2012 Cultural Olympiad launches the Discovering Places campaign
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London 2012 Cultural Olympiad campaign ‘Discovering Places’ will launch on the weekend of 23-25 July 2010 with a host of exciting, free public events taking place in Yorkshire and Humberside. Discovering Places aims to encourage communities to get out and explore the hidden gems on their doorstep, from historic castles to contemporary townscapes, woodland trails and local wildlife. Events planned for Yorkshire and Humberside include learning to Geo cache at Humberhead Peatlands, a dawn walk along the route of King Harald's army, a Mad Hatterz Tea Party and the chance to explore the hidden world of museums as well as many others. Many of the Discovering Places events are run on a voluntary basis and all will offer free entry to anyone interested in discovering more about their local environment The programme launches on the London 2012 Open Weekend supported by BP - a weekend of sporting, arts and cultural challenges set up across the UK to share in the nation’s two year countdown to the start of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Now in its third year, Open Weekend enables everyone across the UK to share in the excitement of the Games and actively celebrate the two year countdown by challenging themselves to trying something new or taking an interest to a further level. Discovering Places will use the power of the Games to inspire communities across the UK to celebrate and discover the natural, built and historic environments. This weekend of events offers local communities across the UK the chance to participate in the London 2012Cultural Olympiad programme, challenging them to seek out the unfamiliar and explore something new in their everyday environment. Discovering Places is principally funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor and delivered in partnership between The Heritage Alliance and London 2012. Ian Lush, Discovering Places Director for The Heritage Alliance, comments: ‘Discovering Places events aim to engage local communities with the wider Olympic programme and foster the spirit of the Games by challenging local people to explore the unfamiliar and discover something new in their own back yard.’ Janet Paraskeva, Chair of the Olympic Lottery Distributor said: ‘It is important that local communities have the opportunity to discover and explore their local environment. As a major funder of the Cultural Olympiad we are delighted that National Lottery funding is supporting communities to do just that across the UK.’ Kate Bennett, Public Realm Learning Manager, Beam said: ‘We are delighted to be encouraging people to discover new places where they live. This is a great opportunity for people to find out about amazing places across the Yorkshire region. At our Mad Hatterz Tea Party young poets, musicians and performers in Wakefield will showcase their talents and we invite the general public to come and discover the Orangery – one of Wakefield’s hidden cultural gems. Everyone is welcome to join in the madness and come in fancy dress, bring a picnic and of course there will be tea and cakes!’ The following Discovering Places events will take place in Yorkshire and Humberside over the weekend of 23-25 July. Full listings can be found at http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/upcoming-events/index.php
The above events will take place alongside hundreds of other Discovering Places events and Open Weekend challenges across the UK – ranging from learning a new dance or piece of music an hour before it is performed, to talent contests, learning stonemasonry skills to create your own sundial to 3 kilometre relay races through unusual places, sports days and guided bicycle rides, there is an opportunity for everyone to challenge themselves to discover something new or take an interest to another level. Full listings can be found at http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/upcoming-events/index.php |
Sheffield gears up to support the launch of Cycle 250
July 2010
With two years to go before London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games, the GB women’s volleyball team is preparing to cycle from Sheffield to London and raise funds to support their ongoing training programme in preparation for London 2012.
On Friday 23 July the GB team based at the Sheffield International Venues managed English Institute of Sport–Sheffield will launch the ‘Cycle 250’ fundraising campaign in Tudor Square, Sheffield city centre to highlight their battle to raise a minimum of £250,000. A volleyball court will be set up in Tudor Square, Sheffield where the GB team will demonstrate their skills to the public, before setting off on their journey.
The launch coincides with Open Weekend and the fun activities taking place in and around Sheffield to celebrate two years to go to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Supporting the launch, Councillor Roger Davison Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Tourism, said: “Cycle 250 demonstrates the resilience of the GB women’s volleyball team and their commitment to competing at the London 2012 Olympics.
"The GB volleyball programme is a major part of Sheffield’s sporting economy. We were delighted when the British Volleyball Federation decided to base their top athletes here in 2007 and we will continue to support the teams in the lead up to London 2012
“Volleyball is played across the world and the hosting of international matches, events and training camps in Sheffield gives us the opportunity to raise the profile of our city which in return brings economic benefits to Sheffield and the region.”
The campaign will be a 250 mile bike ride by the GB women’s volleyball team from their training base at EIS Sheffield to the Earls Court Arena, the Olympic Volleyball venue, in London on 27th July – exactly 2 years until the opening ceremony.
Audrey Cooper, GB women’s coach, said: “Due to insufficient funds, the winter training programme (from August 2010 to May 2011) has suffered and only a limited competitive programme will take place next summer.
“We are prepared to do anything we can to keep the dream of being the best we can be alive and have decided to take our destiny into our own hands and try and raise the necessary funds to allow the team to play as many matches as possible in preparation for London 2012.
“The support we have received so far from our partners in Sheffield has been fantastic and we will keep working hard to achieve our dream of competing at the Olympics and do the country proud.”
The riders will cycle to London on borrowed bicycles, stopping along the way in Nottingham, Loughborough, Wolverhampton, Kidderminster, Oxford and Reading to raise awareness of the campaign and generate support.
The immediate target for the team, which currently exists on its share of the £4.2m (over four years) to British Volleyball from UK Sport, is to raise a minimum of £250,000 to ensure a high level of international competition next summer. A further £250,000 in 2011 would allow them to achieve their ambition of playing as a team in a European league next winter 2011-12. The GB team have already received official sanction for the innovative project from the European governing body.
No GB indoor volleyball team (neither men nor women) have qualified before to compete at any Olympics. As host country, they qualify automatically. This is their showcase and sole opportunity to establish the sport as a genuine and spectacular contribution to the success of London and beyond.
For more information visit www.sheffield-lightingtheflame.com
Home-grown holiday spirit at Kelham Island Museum
July 2010
If you have ever wondered how your grandparents spent their summer holidays as youngsters, Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield is providing the perfect opportunity to find out.
The National Fairground Archive at the University of Sheffield Library will join the team at Sheffield Industrial Museum’s Trust to bring the museum to life on Saturday 31 July and Sunday 1 August 2010 for the ‘Holidays at Home’ vintage summer event.
The event is a celebration of the ‘Wake Weekends’ when industrial towns across the north of England shut down for the holiday season. Children can learn about Sheffield’s patriotic holiday spirit during the 1940s and 1950s and grandparents can reminisce about the fun they had in the ‘good old days’.
Niki Connolly, events and marketing officer for Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust, said: “The trust is delighted the National Fairground Archive is bringing a taste of its unique collection from the Western Bank Library at the University of Sheffield to Kelham Island Museum because it will provide a fantastic insight into how holidays were spent in the ‘good old days’ before Spain and Florida became popular destinations.
“We like to host family-friendly events and Holidays at Home will definitely offer something exciting for every generation of your family. From children’s fairground rides, delicious food, live music, traditional entertainers, craft activities and an insight into the post-war period – this event has it all.”
The museum will be brought to life with vintage stalls and demonstrations by crafts consortium Craft Candy and the Seven Hills Women’s Institute. Vintage enthusiasts can learn more about how women traditionally ‘made and mended’ during the post-war era.
Visitors are encouraged to wear 1940s and 1950s inspired clothes, such as tea dresses, suitable for life at home and at work on the Home Front.
The highlight of the weekend event will be the National Fairground Archive’s new permanent Resource Room displays covering the history of travelling fairgrounds and allied entertainments. The nostalgic photographic display will bring to life how families spent their holidays at home enjoying traditional fun at the circus, seaside and fair.
Professor Vanessa Toulmin, Director of the University of Sheffield’s National Fairground Archive, said: “Wakes is a golden age celebration, and we are thrilled to be able to bring the tradition back to life in Sheffield once more. We wanted to provide the city with an exhibition which will revitalise the holiday feeling in the local community and relive this grand northern tradition.
“Working with our local partners at the Sheffield Industrial Museum’s Trust, we have curated an exhibition and series of events which promises to provide a lively weekend of entertainment and fun for all the family.”
Youngsters can sample war-time life by exploring the museums’ Anderson shelter and living history characters will demonstrate how to diffuse a bomb. The Furnace Cafe at Kelham Island Museum will look to wartime recipe books for a tasty rationing inspired themed menu.
Entertainment will be provided by the Everly Pregnant Brothers Ukulele Band on Saturday and 1940s singer Paul Harper over the weekend. Hot-footed visitors can join in the lindy hop, swing jive, Charleston and period ballroom dancing from the golden era of the big band.
Thanks to the National Fairground Archive, children will have the chance to be mesmerised by Steve Faulkner’s escapology and magic tricks, and curious audiences can explore the miniature flea circus or get a taste of historical slapstick from the Danger Boys street performers. Families can also try their hand at fairground games such as hook a duck while enjoying mini fairground attractions. Visitors will also be treated to two unique film screenings from the Yorkshire Film Archive relating to Sheffield in the 1940s and films of Blackpool and its fairs in the 1950s.
The museum will be open as on both Saturday and Sunday with many displays linked to the war-time theme. For example, the River Don Engine rolled armour for warships, tanks and Spitfire’s. The devastating 22,000lbs Grand Slam Bomb, designed by Sir Barnes Wallis and made at Vickers & Co in Sheffield during the Second World War, will also be on show.
For more information about the event log onto www.simt.co.uk, email ask@simt.co.uk or call 0114 2722106.
Entry is free all weekend from 11am to 5pm.
Two-year countdown to the 2012 Olympics begins
July 2010
With two years to go until the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Sheffield is celebrating a year of outstanding achievements and is firmly focused on maximising opportunities for the city in the two year countdown until the games start in 2012.
Extensive work has been carried out to help ensure that Sheffield’s offer is recognised both nationally and internationally, as well as putting in place a number of initiatives to directly benefit the people of Sheffield.
On the 27th July, exactly 2 years until the start of the games, four volunteers from Sheffield have been selected to become the regional faces of LOCOGs volunteering campaign for London 2012 and two of the Sheffield Academy of Young Leaders in Sport (SAYLS) volunteers will travel to London to raise awareness of the integral role over 70,000 volunteers will play in the delivery of the games.
There have a number of major developments and achievements throughout the year, these include:
- Sheffield’s golden girl Jessica Ennis became World Heptathlon Champion in August 2009, closely followed by winning the World Indoor Pentathlon title in March 2010. A further 4 Sheffield based athletes were also crowned World Champions in 2009.
- The 4 Great Britain high performance training centres in boxing, diving, volleyball and table tennis committed themselves to being based in Sheffield in the run up to 2012. These 4 sports alone have generated between £1.5 - £2 million into the local economy.
- Sheffield’s Major Sports Events and 2012 Programme for 2009/10 has generated between £6-8million in to the local economy, as well as having one of its events the 65th English Open Table Tennis Championships voted best in the world by the international federation.
- While other cities are aiming to host International training camps in 2012, Sheffield is ahead of the game and already hosting them now (with over 20 hosted so far). This year we will have hosted Japan volleyball who are number 5 in the world. A four nations boxing camp with Great Britain, France, Kazakhstan and China. US boxing, Canadian and Swedish Paralympic teams for wheelchair rugby. Canadian Paralympic sports of wheelchair basketball and goalball.
- The links between raising participation and delivering international sporting events have been improved by giving over 4000 Sheffield children the chance to try diving, table tennis and goalball for the first time.
Cllr Roger Davison, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Tourism for Sheffield City Council, said: “Sheffield has already benefitted significantly from London 2102. The games are a catalyst that will help to increase participation in sport, benefit the economy of our city and help to raise its profile.
“It is important that we recognise the considerable amount of work that is taking place to maximise these opportunities and understand the different ways that the people of Sheffield can benefit right up until 2012.”
The next major event that will take place in the city is The British Gas asa National Age Group Championships and British Gas asa National Youth Championships, taking place at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. Over 40 City of Sheffield swimmers have qualified to take part in the event which attracts 1000’s of visitors to the city. The athletes competing in these Championships hold the key for the future success of British Swimming, and many of the GB Olympic squad embarked on their Olympic journey competing in asa National Age Group and Youth Championships over the years.
Sheffield City Council will launch its annual ‘Sheffield - Lighting the Flame for Sport’ strategy on 27th July with details of the many achievements to date and highlights from the past year also important developments and aspirations for the next two years.
The ultimate goal of the strategy is to leave a lasting legacy for Sheffield as a result of the London 2012 games.
For more information, visit www.sheffield-lightingtheflame.co.uk