More than seven million pounds have been raised for the London 2012 Games through a lottery started seven months ago after London won the Games. The National Lottery is to contribute up to 1.5 billion pounds to the London Games. Lottery operator Camelot believes it’s on track to raise 14 million pounds by the end of March.
It is hoped that a new winter sports scratch card Win Gold, launched Thursday, and other games, will bring in at least 750 million pounds.
At the launch of Win Gold, Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, said the lottery had made “a terrific start” at raising money for the Games. Noting that a third of the 750 million pound total would be needed by 2009, he said, “that’s when the real cheerleading arrangements will be and there will be a real surge – at the moment we are on target. There is a lot of interest specifically in the Games and that’s something we need to build on. It is not just about a contribution. It is about the next generation and people are prepared to contribute to that”.
Delays in the construction of Wembley Stadium have raised fears that London could fail to deliver the Olympic Village and required venues on schedule reports The Sun. But Coe said, “we’ll continue what has already been done to make sure everything is ready on time. In the bid phase we had the planning done, the land acquisition sorted out and the funding in place. In terms of the design and building of all the venues, that’s three very important hurdles out of the way.
“By getting those things in place so quickly we were able to start work the day after it was announced that London would host the 2012 Olympics”.
Coe added, “please don’t begin to compare what we have done with the construction of the Millennium Dome, which was built without any philosophy or management planning. What we have got in place now is on a different planet compared to the thinking behind the Dome. There was nothing wrong with the construction of the Dome and it actually came in on time and budget – but it failed because of what was put in it”.
Meanwhile, a London 2012 delegation is in Barcelona Thursday and Friday to study the preparations for the successful 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
Thursday the 16-member delegation will listen to presentations and Friday the group will visit the Olympic Ring of Montjuic and the Olympic Village.
