Benefits to the borough

Regeneration

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will bring many new opportunities to the people of East London. It will create the biggest new urban park in Europe for 150 years, along with 9,000 new homes and world class sports facilities.

All of these will mean thousands of new jobs and business opportunities, before, during and after the Games. New bridges and transport links will connect Tower Hamlets’ communities with the new Olympic Park as well the places and opportunities beyond.

Jobs and training

There will be job and business opportunities that the Games will bring - during the construction phase, the Games themselves, and then afterwards, as the Park becomes a great new place to live, work and play in East London.

There will be jobs in construction, IT, transport, catering, hospitality and other sectors in order to run the Games and look after the 17,000 athletes and officials, the 20,000 journalists and broadcasters, and the hundreds of thousands of spectators and visitors. There are also opportunities for tourism. After 2012 there will be jobs created in commerce, industry, sport, and other sectors.  At Tower Hamlets, we are committed to ensuring that our residents are in the best position to take advantage of these opportunities.

Find more information on our business opportunities, jobs and training for the Olympics.

Volunteering is another way for Tower Hamlets residents to be part of the Games, while also gaining valuable skills and experience. Around 70,000 volunteers will be needed, helping out in areas such as crowd management, information services and interpreting.

More information on volunteering for the Olympics and its benefits.

Sport

The 2012 Games offers a great opportunity to promote sports and encourage a healthy lifestyle nationwide. In Tower Hamlets, the Games will leave a legacy of world class sports facilities on our doorstep – for athletics, swimming, cycling, hockey, tennis and more. Many of the facilities that will be used for events and ceremonies during the Games will be converted afterwards so that local communities can use them alongside elite athletes.

All this will help to build on the local passion for sport.  Our borough already boasts of over 100 sports clubs such as Sporting Bengal, schools like Marion Richardson that have pioneered developments in sport, and great sporting venues including York Hall and Mile End Stadium. The council is intent on seizing the opportunity of the 2012 Games to promote and improve our existing sports facilities and get more local people involved in sports.

More information on sports in the borough.

Transport

Major transport improvements are planned between now and 2012, with over £17 billion being invested in public transport and roads in London.  This will leave us with a far better transport system after the Games have finished.

The bid for the Games sped up planned transport improvements such as the East London Line extension and the DLR extension to London City Airport, which opened in December 2005. A seventh carriage was added to Jubilee Line trains in January 2006. The first of two new DLR platforms at Stratford opened in June 2007, and the second will open in September. Work is also going forward to add a third carriage to DLR trains and build a new DLR station at Langdon Park. There are plans to improve services on the North London line, as well as increasing the number of trains on and Central line.

More information on further Improvements to public transport

Education

The Olympic ideals offer an exciting opportunity to boost the aspirations and achievement of children and young people in Tower Hamlets. We, are determined that young people in the borough will have the opportunity not just to be spectators at the Olympics, but to join in with the Games and benefit from its legacy in the long term.

We are developing an Olympic strategy for children and young people, to ensure that they get the maximum benefit from the world’s biggest sporting event taking place on their doorstep. To do this, we will implement the Mayor’s Olympic Delivery Plan for Education in London, which aims to enthuse and inspire children and young people in London to realise their own capabilities and develop their understanding of the world community of nations.

Culture

Tower Hamlets is a vibrant and diverse borough where culture and art thrive. With over 90 art organisations, 34 galleries and 13 museums and heritage sites, we have the most extensive arts and culture provision in the East London. There are also around 45 festivals a year, including the Baishaki Mela, which draws a crowd of up to 80,000 people, and the Brick Lane Mela with an estimated attendance of 40,000.

In four years leading up to the Games, a nationwide Cultural Olympiad will celebrate the best that UK culture has to offer, with music, theatre, art, dance, film, fashion and more. Tower Hamlets will use its contribution to the Cultural Olympiad to get people involved in the Games and show off the range and diversity of talent in the borough. The programme will boost local people’s pride in their area while bringing more visitors to Tower Hamlets.

Find out about the arts and entertainment in the borough.