Taking money from the Lottery for the 2012 Games may do more harm than good
A report released this week by the London Assembly’s Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee, chaired by Dee Doocey, has found that diverting funding from Lottery good causes in London to shore up the budget for the 2012 Games may actually do more harm than good. Both the Cultural Olympiad, a four-year programme of events aimed at increasing participation in cultural activity due to commence this year, and the Government’s Olympic sports participation target to increase the number of people who are physically active by 2 million by 2012 are heavily dependent on smaller grassroots organizations. But the Committee found that these were the very organisations that would be hardest hit by the diversion of Lottery funding to pay for the Olympics.
The report estimates that of the £2.2 billion National Lottery good causes are having to contribute towards the £9 billion needed for the 2012 Games2, London will lose around £440 million of Lottery funding3, with voluntary and local community organisations hardest hit.
Dee Doocey AM said: “We are not denying that the capital will reap huge benefits as host city of the 2012 Games. However, our investigation shows that the on-the-ground opportunities Londoners were promised are at risk because the funding diversion effectively hamstrings the organisations needed to deliver them. At present, it’s not completely clear who will lose what, but our research suggests that smaller organisations will suffer most. With the Games only four years away this needs to be addressed immediately before the opportunity to get this right is lost.”
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