Sport Industry Group

Coe and Mills honoured by Beyond Sport- 21 Jun 2012 00:00:00

At a reception in London on Wednesday night Seb Coe, the London 2012 Organising Committee Chair, and Sir Keith Mills, the Chair of the II Foundation, received Beyond Sport’s Leadership in Sport Award, supported by P&G, on behalf of International Inspiration, the official international sports legacy programme of London 2012.

Coe and Mills were presented with the first Beyond Sport Award of 2012 at the Beyond Sport London Reception, held just one month before the Beyond Sport Summit & Awards brings the worlds of sport, business, philanthropy, politics and beyond together in London in the week of the Olympic Games opening ceremony. 

The Beyond Sport Summit promises to be the leading networking event for the sport industry ahead of the Games, with speakers including Tony Blair, the Chairman of the Beyond Sport Ambassadors, Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays, Olympic legends Michael Johnson and Bob Beamon and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, the most successful Paralympian of all time.

Coe and Mills collected the Award as recognition of International Inspiration's global impact over the last seven years, in which it has achieved its Olympic legacy goals across 20 countries.

International Inspiration, a unique partnership between the British Council, UK Sport and UNICEF, has worked with an astonishing 12 million children to fulfil the promise made by Coe and the London 2012 bid team in Singapore in 2005, when the two-time Olympic gold medallist vowed that a London Olympic Games would reach young people all around the world and connect them to the inspirational power of the Games so they are inspired to choose sport, improving their lives as a result.

Nick Keller, the Founder of Beyond Sport, commented: ‘There will be many positive outcomes from London 2012, but none more so than the 12 million children reached through International Inspiration. Seb and his colleagues have more than delivered on that memorable promise made in Singapore. As with all great acts of Leadership they have set new parameters. The expectation on the hosts of large-scale sport events has shifted and social legacy is no longer limited to the host city or even host country.’

Seb Coe, the London 2012 Organising Committee Chair, said: 'International Inspiration’s work has been a key part of London 2012’s vision to inspire young people around the world, and I am delighted to accept this Award from Beyond Sport on behalf of everyone who has contributed to its success. To have made a difference in the lives of over 12 million children around the world before London 2012 even gets underway is testament to the incredible power of sport.'

After receiving the Leadership in Sport Award, Coe also took the time to present the P&G UK Impact Award in association with the Daily Telegraph, launched to recognise the UK's most innovative and successful sport for change projects in the year that the Beyond Sport Summit returns to British shores.

Coe presented the Award to Street League, a charity which uses football to help disadvantaged members of society into work, education or training. 

Two other projects were highly commended by the judging panel: Extra Time, run by the Football Foundation, which engages more than 3,000 elderly men and women in physical activity to help improve emotional wellbeing and reduce social isolation; and Everton in the Community's Tackling Inequality, Empowering Ability programme, which addresses mental health issues on Merseyside. All three projects will receive a support package from Beyond Sport to enable them to further develop their activities.

Nathan Homer, Sports Marketing & Olympics Project Director at Procter & Gamble (P&G), concluded: ‘We are delighted to support both of these Awards, which celebrate the impact of London 2012 and the Olympic movement both within the UK and abroad. P&G are proud of our place in the Olympic movement and welcome this chance to pay tribute to the inspirational leadership that Seb Coe and his team have provided around the world, and to recognise the outstanding projects on the ground in the UK.’