W
hen the London 2012 bid team, led by Lord Sebastian Coe and Sir Keith Mills, went to Singapore in 2005 to
bid for the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games in London, they took 35 young people from East London with them. “Why are they here?” said Lord Coe, as he spoke to the International Olympic Committee delegates in the room. “It’s because we’re serious about inspiring young people. “Choose London today, and you send a
clear message to the youth of the world – the Olympic Games is for you.” Fast forward eight years and I’m meet-
ing Sir Keith Mills in London to talk about how that promise is being kept. With him is Adam Parr, former Williams F1 CEO and now chief executive of Sport- ed, a charity set up to ensure a lasting legacy for the UK’s youth. Together with the rest of the Sported team, they are working hard to use sport to change the lives of disadvantaged young people. “It all started when we were devel-
oping the bid,” explains Mills, who became CEO of the London 2012 bid committee in September 2003, after he was approached for his strong business credentials (he had 20 years’ market- ing experience and is the inventor of Air
Issue 3 2013 © cybertrek 2013
Sported supports hundreds of grassroot projects across the UK and has helped fund facilities
Miles and Nectar). “We needed to get closer to the com-
munities in East London, because that’s where the Olympic Park would be built. Together with the local authority, we hired some coaches, booked some halls and playing fields and started to run sporting activities for the local kids. The borough and the police reported that it had a huge impact, because it gave the kids something to do in the evenings. It got them off the streets and engaged in something positive. “As we developed our narrative when
we were bidding for the Games, one of the strongest stories that came through was that the Olympics in London should be about more than just regenerating a part of the city and great sport. They should be used for something a bit more substantial.” I am talking to Mills and Parr in Sport-
ed’s eighth floor office in St James’s, London. There is a quiet hum of activity in the open plan office, which features framed photos of Olympic athletes and Mills’ yacht racing team Team Origin
(yacht racing is one of his passions). The pair look relaxed, and clearly get on well, sharing banter as we prepare for the interview. As soon as they start talking about Sported, however, it’s clear they are deadly serious about their mission. Sported targets young people from
disadvantaged areas of the UK by sup- porting the grassroots organisations that use sport to bring about social change in their communities. Both Mills and Parr are absolutely
convinced about the power of sport to change the lives of young people, and they’ve been backed up by a piece of re- search recently published by the Sported Foundation which has found that £4,000 per young person, per year, is saved by using sport as an intervention to tackle social problems. With 2.5 million young people living in areas of deprivation in the UK, this could add up to billions of pounds. “Sport helps young people in several
ways,” says Parr. “Firstly, the young peo- ple we’re dealing with don’t necessarily have a great structure around them and sport can really provide a framework for their lives. Secondly, it provides a physi- cal place where they can go and be safe and have people around them who want to be there. Thirdly, the people who run these organisations are inspirational
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