Have We Lost India?

June

27

4 comments

Back in 2009 we reported on how a delegation from Essex, Including Lord Hanningfield and Stephen Castle, had been out to India hoping to get the Indian Olympic Team to have a base here for 2012:

QUESTIONS have been asked about the cost and worth of a business trip to India by Essex County Council leader Lord Hanningfield and representatives from the county?s cricket club.

Former England captain Graham Gooch and Essex County Cricket Club chief executive David East are among the party accompanying Lord Hanningfield on the trade mission in a bid to drum up commerce for the county.

One other organisation is being represented on the trip but it is unclear how it is being paid for, with organisers ExDRA ? the Essex Development and Regeneration Agency ? refusing to explain who has covered the cost.

Mr Castle said a lot of the other countries set to compete in the games had already selected their training camp locations, including Birmingham, which will host the US athletics team, but India was one of the largest teams yet to decide.

He added: ?It was very initial conversations but very, very positively received. For us to get in the door was very good.

?The Indians have yet to decide. They have previously sent sports to train individually but what they?re interested in doing is following the successful Team GB model and basing all their athletes in one place.?

Mr Castle said an agreement would only add to the Olympic legacy that the games will leave in Essex, with local coaches being offered the chance to work with the best India has to offer and young athletes an opportunity to train alongside the team.

Among those facilities that could host training sessions are the Essex County Cricket ground in Chelmsford and the Colchester Garrison.

Mr Castle also confirmed that contact had been made with the Chinese Olympic Committee about a possible training camp in the county after the close links forged during the Essex Jiangsu Festival, which will close later this month.

So what’s the outcome? The Guardian has just done a feature with a map on where Olympic training camps are located in the UK:

They show just 2 locations in Essex:

– the Japanese swimming team in Basildon
– the Canadian mountain bikers in Wickford

And what about the Indians? Well , it’s hard to tell. the wrestlers seem to be training in ‘shocking conditions’ with rotten fruit near New Delhi….and then move on for more training in the USA

About the author, admin

  • Where have these Olympic tickets gone? What was the final decision? Have they ended up where expected?

    Has a full disclosure been made?

    http://www.essex.gov.uk/News/Pages/Essex-allocated-Olympic-Tickets-for-hosting-events.aspx

    Essex Allocated Olympic Tickets for Hosting Events

    16 June 2011

    The [Essex County] council has purchased 500 tickets from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for the mountain bike events at Hadleigh Farm (250 tickets for each day) and 40 tickets for other events in the Olympic programme.

    While a final decision has yet to be made about the distribution of the tickets, a proportion will be allocated to looked after children in care and to county schools involved in ‘Essex Carrying the Flame’, Essex County Council’s 2012 Games-inspired education programme.

  • As I have found no information myself and nobody has been able to answer these questions above I have made a Freedom of Information request of Essex County Council.

    I would be surprised if the FOI is answered before the end of the Olympic Games and if that is the case I would also wish to know what the level of actual attendance was in respect of the tickets.

    I think that the total face value was £40,000? Again that will be checked under the FOI request.

    If Chris is agreeable I will ask him if he will publish on this site what information is provided in due course.

  • Here is a Press Release from ECC in answer to my questions.

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1063718/Press%20release%20ECC%20Olympic%20tickets.pdf

    Total value of tickets available for some people to purchase from ECC was £7,275.

    146 lucky people were able to avoid having to queue online for tickets by virtue of the following:

    • Number of tickets available for ECC Members and Officers to purchase 60

    • Number of tickets available for ECC partners involved in Hadleigh Farm to purchase 86

    and

    • Number of tickets available for local business 20

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