Following an astonishing Olympic fortnight in which sport has taken centre stage in Great Britain as never before, sports clubs and community groups are being urged to help the nation get off the sofa and get active this coming weekend by the charity Join In Local Sport.
The government funded charity which is supported by national Sports Councils and governing bodies throughout the UK as well as other organisations is looking to harness the huge interest in sport created by London 2012 and Great Britain's success at the Games.
"Join In Local Sport is all about going back to where it began for every Team GB athlete – their local sports club," says the organsiation on its website. "It’s a celebration of everyone who helps to make an Olympian: from the coaches to the tea ladies, the competitors to the volunteers and supporters.
"No host country has done anything like this before. It will be the UK’s biggest ever celebration of grassroots sport – and we need you to make it as great as possible.
"On 18/19th August, Join In Local Sport will encourage the nation to head down to where it starts for every great champion – their local sports club," it adds.
"The aim of Join In is for every sports club or community group in the UK to put on a special event or activity on the Join In Weekend – capturing the enthusiasm for sport that we know this summer's sporting events will generate.
"Whether clubs want to sign up more members, supporters or volunteers, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attract local people who may never have come to their club before. And Join In will help them to do it."
As comedian Eddie Izzard, puts it in this short promotional film, "Now is the time to make one weekend last a lifetime!"
Sports clubs and other organisations wanting to publicise their events can register on the site and post details, while people looking for a local activity can search by location, sport, date and age group.
Seb Coe, chair of London 2012, has given his endorsement to the initiative, saying: "We are really happy to support Join In. Millions will be inspired this summer and I hope this creates opportunities in every community for people to join in their local sports clubs."
Help us to fund our site
We’ve noticed you’re using an ad blocker. If you like road.cc, but you don’t like ads, please consider subscribing to the site to support us directly. As a subscriber you can read road.cc ad-free, from as little as £1.99.
If you don’t want to subscribe, please turn your ad blocker off. The revenue from adverts helps to fund our site.
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £1.99. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
IIRC Dutch researchers found that generally banning bikes or removing bans on bikes from pedestrianised streets usually either made no difference...
I think you'll find that you'll only go to jail if rich people are losing money from it.
He's not there to fill air-time (that's Kirby and the other one), he's there to use his expertise to give good insight into the racing. And he's...
Maybe a bit of PPE?
Thanks for the review. I like that Orbea have included aero extras and wish more manufacturers would stick two fingers up at the UCI - at least in...
Excellent - I think I'll replace my emergency tube that is a real squeeze to get into the little Topeak bottle cage bag thingy....
I enjoyed this guy I captured with his hound on New Oxford Street a few years ago.
I know this is a bit late but one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the extra wear and possible damage to the cycle lane surface due to being...
*bursts back into the room hours after the conversation has moved on*...
Damn, that sucks. I generally feel pretty relaxed with my bike on Avanti trains because the compartment is locked and I don't have to worry about...