Think tank questions 2012 legacy pledge
An independent think tank has raised questions over whether next summer's Olympic and Paralympic Games will deliver any lasting benefits to the UK's poorest young people.
In a new report, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) said that the pledge to ensure a sporting legacy from the event will be a "highly effective sales pitch that was never fully realised".
More than a Game: Harnessing the power of sport to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people includes what the CSJ calls flaws in official plans to increase participation.
According to the report, there is no clear link between national sporting success and growth in sporting activity and many of popular UK school sports will not feature at the Games.
The study also criticises plans to invest £135m of Lottery funding in the Places People Play scheme, which it said would see most of the cash going towards facilities.
According to the report, "The scale of the challenge that the Olympic organisers have set themselves is too high for the relatively limited amounts of funding and the programmes that have been promised, to deliver successfully.
"Both the inadequacies of a participation-driven approach to the Olympics legacy and the unequal nature of sports participation in this country lead us to question whether it is possible for the legacy promised in Singapore to be delivered."
Orginal article posted on www.leisureopportunities.co.uk.
