Spaghetti junction, The Specials, Skinner, Sabbath, Slade – iconic names from the West Midlands, to which another was added on Sunday night last, when Ellie Symmonds, (who at the age of 13 won two gold medals in the paralympics in Beijing), was voted BBC Midlands Sports Personality of the Year.

Riding the crest of this Games-related success (not to mention the seismic alliteration), the 2012 Nations and Regions team rolled into Birmingham on Monday last, Dec 8th. Along with Seb and Joseph, my charming communications colleague Annabel and I were welcomed to the region by Councellor Chris Saint and Tim Bryan, Regional 2012 Member and Coordinator respectively.

After a chilly, early morning start, we arrived at the capital of the Balti, for a packed programme, peppered with ideas and initiatives inspired by the Games.

First off, we joined Chris James and the West Midlands Youth Parliament (WMYP) group, where their very capable Chair, Bethan Dovey (age 16), facilitated a challenging Q&A session. A well informed youth audience kept Seb and the panel on their toes with 2012 related questions concerning fair trade merchandising, travel infrastructure planning and opportunities for local involvement in the Opening Ceremony.

Picture shows Seb with, from left: Bethan Dovey, Councellor Chris Saint and Chris James from West Midlands Youth Parliament.


From young parliamentarians, we moved on to meet young gymnasts and martial artists at the GMAC centre, which provides elite standard facilities for these disciplines. We met coaches and their students and enjoyed demonstrations of Ai Kido, Judo and the dreaded gymnastics 'Beam'.

Having witnessed the go-ahead nature of coaching and facilities for able-bodied athletes in the region, we then had the privilege of seeing Seb officially open the £8.75million Xcel Sport and Leisure Centre in Coventry. This fantastic complex has replaced the Midlands Sports Centre for the Disabled, the inspiration for which, Len Tasker, welcomed us along with former 5,000m world record holder, David Moorcoft OBE.

In his time away from the media spotlight, Dave Moorcroft has successfully taken on the considerable task of establishing the Coventry Sports Foundation, to deal with the consequences of industrial demise and provide youngsters from deprived communities with the opportunity to take part in sports and to work in sports related jobs.

Whilst at the Xcel, Seb also had the pleasure of signing the National Charter of Rights for Disabled Children and Young People, under the watchful eye of Parmi Dheensa, head of the Include Me Too Wolverhampton-based charity which launched the charter in September this year.

Another busy and rewarding day in the nations and regions, and I had to remember my 3 nuggets to share with my team; how about these:

1. Dr William Penny Brookes was the founding father of the modern Olympic Games in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Penny Brookes was an English physician, magistrate, botanist, who founded the Wenlock Olympian Society in 1860. Prior to the foundation of the Olympian Society Dr Brookes organised an "Olympian Class" with sports events from 1850. This games was visited in 1890 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who was impressed by the organisation and later credited Brookes for inspiring him before the Baron founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894.

Sadly, Penny Brookes died in December 1895, just months before the first summer Games was organised by the International Olympic Committee in Athens, Greece, in 1896.

2. A brand new play entitled 'Olympic Dreamer', about the life of William Penny Brookes, is currently in development.

3. The West Midlands celebrated the Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend in September this year, with 43 events, one of the highest of any of the regions outside of London.

And one for luck…

4. Dave Moorcroft and his 2012 group for Coventry and Warwickshire are in the process of developing six flagship projects for their Olympic journey, one of these is entitled “Stratford to Stratford”, and is looking to establish links between Stratford-on-Avon and Stratford in the East End. One of these links could be Seb himself, as Seb attended primary school in Stratford, Warwickshire.

With special thanks to:

Sharon Lea, Mike Osborne, Steve Hollingworth and Jim Kelly at GMAC

Tom Clift and Paul Breed at Xcel

Jo Hammond, Media management