Loughborough College initiative recognised with the prestigious London 2012 Inspire Mark.
21 August 2009
‘Loughborough Flames: Lighting the Way’ was set up by Loughborough College in association with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to improve the health of Loughborough’s young people. The project is now at the forefront of creating an innovative and exciting health legacy for members of the college’s local community.
The BHF National Centre for Physical Activity and Health, based at Loughborough University, teamed up with Loughborough College to deliver the programme. Staff from the BHF trained one-hundred College students on how to encourage children to be more physically active, improve their health and be part of the health legacy of the 2012 Games.
The College’s newly trained army of young leaders then went into primary schools to deliver a six week programme to 250 local children. They subsequently organised the hugely successful Loughborough Flames Festival, an event inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to celebrate the Children’s achievements. The project is only the second in the East Midlands to be awarded the Inspire Mark, which also confers limited rights to use the London 2012 logo, and one of the first FE colleges nationally to be recognised.
Loughborough College’s Elite Sport Education and Welfare Officer, Chris McGeorge said: “This is a great honour for the College and the British Heart Foundation- we are one of the first further education establishment in the country to achieve the Inspire Mark. The Flames programme aims to inspire young people to be more physically active as well as learning about the history of the Games through taking part in a number of sports and activities using the College’s own 1948 Olympic torch.
“We recognise that only a small percentage of the population can ever be elite athletes or even Olympians and we therefore want to continue to spread the cultural message of the Olympiad as a lasting legacy of the Games. Our focus through the Flames project centres on promoting the health and well being of young children in partnership with the BHF and we hope to engage more children into the programme year on year.”
London 2012’s Inspire programme aims to help bring the benefits of the 2012 Games to every part of the UK - giving millions the opportunity to participate as never before. Loughborough Flames is featured in the latest edition of Spotlight Magazine, and also appears as a Showcase item on the website - click here.
