We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure adequate funding for those Olympic sports for which UK Sport has not so far confirmed details.

Details of Petition:

‘The Olympics must provide a legacy for future generations. Although medals are important, legacy is more important. Some of the sports which are currently in limbo have a real chance of contributing to that legacy at low cost – volleyball and handball are good examples. Squad players have put their careers and lives ‘on hold’ in order to commit to the required training regime. They have committed themselves wholeheartedly and the government should ensure that they and UK Sport also commit. These players realise that the glory of medals will probably not be theirs, but they are trying to give something to the community – surely something that is worthy of support in these difficult times. Funding is currently centred on those sports which already gain the greatest publicity and who therefore already have the best chance of finding private sponsorship. The legacy we need can be best served by helping those less publicised sports which show commitment and focus, together with the potential for community benefit.

The Government’s response

From the outset we have been clear that the 2012 Games provides an unprecedented opportunity to change the sporting landscape in the UK for generations to come and leave a lasting legacy.’ It will open up sporting opportunities like never before with new worldclass sporting facilities all around the country and inspire people to fulfil their sporting potential.

Our vision is for children, young people and adults of all ages to be able to enjoy a much wider range of sports and physical activities as part of the 2012 legacy.’ That’s why we have set out Olympic Legacy promises such as plans for under 16s to take part in 5 hours of sport per week, and have set ourselves a target of getting 2 million more people active in the lead up to the Games with initiatives like Free Swimming.

As part of our commitment to the Games, we announced a ‘600 million funding package for Olympic and Paralympic sport up to London 2012, comprising of ‘300 million existing Lottery funding, an additional ‘200 million exchequer funding and ‘100 million to be sought from the private sector. Earlier this year, the Government increased the exchequer funding by ’50 million, meaning a total of ‘250 million from Government – an unprecedented public sector investment in British Olympic Sport.

We accept that the current economic climate means that raising money from the private sector will be challenging and this has meant that UK Sport has had to make some tough decisions on their allocations to individual sports. They have developed a ‘No Compromise’ strategy that focuses resources primarily at those sports and athletes most likely to win medals and achieve our ambitious medal table targets for London.
The Government remains committed to realising ’50 million from the private sector to support the public sector investment and have announced a fundraising partnership that brings together the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic games, the British Olympic Association, British Paralympic Association and UK Sport to help raise additional funds for elite sport in the run up to 2012 and beyond.’ This initiative will offer companies the chance to be associated with the Olympic and Paralympic athletes and sports on UK Sport’s World Class Performance Programme.

The 8 Olympic and 4 Paralympic sports who had their funding allocated in January, including sports such as volleyball and handball will still receive ‘11.2m in funding and any funds raised from the private sector will in the first instance be considered for allocation to these 12 sports. UK Sport has also confirmed to these sports the potential for two year frontloading of their public funding award.

We believe this is an extremely good settlement, representing a record investment in elite sport ‘ with our elite athletes getting almost ’40 million more funding for 2012 than for Beijing and in an incredibly tough economic climate. The Government and UK Sport remain committed to supporting all Olympic and Paralympic sports, and we will do what all we can to support them in run-up to the London Games.