Members of Tyne Metropolitan College travelled the furthest to see how the site is developing just over two years until the opening ceremony of London 2012.

Matt Green, a teacher at Tyne Met College, said: “The trip was a real eye opener for all of us who attended. I don’t think we quite realised the scale of the building work and the regeneration which is taking place.

“We hope that the visit has inspired our students to further engage with the Games. We have already held numerous events as part of our membership of Get Set and will hold many more in the future but, being so far away from London, I think it is sometimes difficult for our students to fully understand the impact which the Games will have.

“This visit put some of them in what will be the centre of the action and I think it certainly had a positive effect on them. They have all already decided to register online for tickets and there is even a chance that a couple of our students could participate in the Games, so hopefully seeing the Olympic Park will act as an extra motivation for them to achieve their ambitions.”

And Matt added: “We are also continually highlighting the fact that there are thousands of non-sporting opportunities which will arise from the Games. I think seeing the size of the project and the number of people involved in it, and hearing about what it will take to actually host the event, will help our students to realise that they could be involved in some capacity should they so wish.”