Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Lord Haworth Excerpts

Thursday 8th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Haworth]

My Lords, I also start by thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey, for initiating this debate, which allows us to return to the important issue of the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games. When I last joined in a debate of this sort, back in 2008, I focused my remarks on the physical legacy of the Games as someone who lived for many years in the Lower Lea Valley and who appreciated the enormous improvements to the physical environment that the creation of the Olympic Park would bring about—and it has. Today, however, I wish to focus on a different legacy aspect: what can be done to improve the general health and fitness of those who do not aspire to be elite athletes?

In this context, I would like to draw attention to the work of the Britain on Foot campaign, which aims to,

“inspire and inform the general public to get active and enjoy the Great British Outdoors in many different ways”.

It will be a call to action aimed at a very wide audience. Everyone can be involved, no matter their age, ability or financial status. It is aimed at promoting the benefits of getting active in the outdoors and enabling people to do so, whether that is a simple stroll in the park enjoying the fresh air or a weekend hiking trip.

This major campaign, which will have its official public launch next spring, had a preliminary parliamentary launch here at Westminster a couple of weeks ago at a reception co-hosted by David Rutley and John Mann, the joint chairmen of the All-Party Mountaineering Group, of which I am secretary. The event was a huge success and was supported by government Ministers from the Department of Health and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. A keynote address was given by Anna Soubry, the new Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health, who placed great emphasis on the public health benefits of people becoming more active.

The campaign is being actively promoted by the Outdoor Industries Association, the trade body which brings together the major equipment suppliers in the industry—the manufacturers of jackets, fleeces, walking trousers, boots, and tents, woolly hats and so forth. The driving force behind it is the chief executive of the OIA, Andrew Denton, who spoke powerfully and inspiringly at the parliamentary reception, culminating with this challenge to the assembled parliamentarians:

“Ask not what Britain on Foot can do for you. Ask what you can do for Britain on Foot”.

It is a challenge to which all of us who are already convinced of the benefits of fresh air and exercise should be prepared to respond.

For the past 30 years I have organised a rambling group, the radical ramblers, and for the past six or seven years there has existed a sub-set of this group, comprised of those who have a little more leisure time, called the Wednesday wanderers. The name gives a good idea of when the group goes walking. There are several Members of your Lordships’ House from the Labour Benches who occasionally are able to come walking on a Wednesday, and there are one or two spouses of noble Baronesses among the others. We are going to respond to the challenge I mentioned by devising and developing a new, long-distance circular walk in and around London. To emphasise the link with the 2012 Olympics, this walk will start and end at the Olympic park in Stratford and, in particular, at the iconic viewing platform and mega-sculpture, the “Orbit”. That will also be the name of our convoluted circular walk: the orbit.

The work has already started. We are treading the local paths and beginning to write up a new guide. Starting from the Olympic park and going anti-clockwise we will cover the cardinal points of the compass: Cockfosters, at the end of the Piccadilly line, in the north; Windsor Castle in the west; the North Downs in the south; and Crayford Ness in the east. Only yesterday, our little group walked across the playing fields of Eton on a short leg from just outside the Greater London boundary to Windsor. Our circular walk is not a rival to the two firmly established and well signposted circular walks in London—the Capital Ring and the London Loop—but is intended to complement them. Indeed, we will incorporate sections of both of these strategic walking routes in our wander, as well as the Thames Path and a dozen or more local footpaths, of which there are an amazing number in London. We will link parks and open spaces by following river paths, canal towpaths, paths around and across golf courses and occasionally, but only where absolutely necessary, along pavements in residential areas.

The amount of green spaces in London that can be linked together to form an extensive walk—which feels, for the most part, like a walk in the countryside—is truly impressive. When our walk is completed it is likely to be about 300 kilometres long, with 34 or 35 stages. We are aiming at an average of nine or 10 kilometres in each stage. When we have completed this task we intend to publish our new route on the internet or by other electronic means—an app, perhaps. We hope to be able to do this for free. Our aim is to play a small role in getting more people walking for their personal benefit, for the nation’s benefit and for our own satisfaction post the Olympic Games. You could say it is our contribution to the big society. I hope that 2013, 2014 and 2015 will be the years in which activity for all comes to the fore, following the emphasis on elite sports in the Olympic year of 2012. This should be a lasting legacy.