Olympic Face-to-Face

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Published: 14 June 2007

Olympic Face-to-Face

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and London 2012 chairman Seb Coe will come face-to-face with members of the public later this month in a new initiative designed to give people a chance to tell big names involved with 2012 what's on their mind and get answers to their questions about the Games.

The first of a series of ‘London 2012: Ask the Team’ meetings will be staged in Birmingham on 25 June.

Tessa Jowell and Seb Coe will be joined on stage by Sir Roy McNulty, acting chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, 2000 Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis and Councillor Chris Saint, who heads the local 2012 Nations and Regions group, working to ensure 2012's benefits reach the West Midlands.

They will take part in a one-hour question & answer session, which will also include a presentation about progress so far on the road to 2012.

Tessa Jowell said:

"These meetings are central to our commitment to provide answers to the public's questions, however tough they may be, about what we are doing to make 2012 a terrific Games, a credit to our country and value for money.

They have a right to challenge us - and this scrutiny will help keep us on our toes and ensure we deliver on our promises. These meetings will be run every few months through to 2012 and I know we'll get asked some difficult questions.

But confidence in 2012 will only stay at the impressive levels we have seen so far if members of the public know this is their Games and that they will get answers. I know we will have critics and I have no intention of hiding from them.

Birmingham is a great place to start, as one of the cities hosting football in 2012 and already seeing real benefits from staging the Games."

The "Ask the Team" event will be hosted by BBC Radio Five Live presenter Victoria Derbyshire and will be preceded by a 40 minute phone-in broadcast across all five BBC local radio stations in the West Midlands - when Tessa Jowell, Seb Coe and Chris Saint will answer listeners' questions.

Tickets for the event will be available on a first come, first served basis, through BBC local radio stations, by clicking HERE or by calling 020 7261 8400.

In addition some tickets will be reserved for groups & individuals with a particular interest in the 2012 Games.

Seb Coe, chair of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) said:

"I welcome this opportunity to listen to the views and answer questions from people in the West Midlands.

These events will be vital in connecting with people outside London and demonstrating how the Games can bring real benefits throughout the UK.

I am looking forward to telling people in Birmingham about the real progress that is being made as we move towards 2012."

Denise Lewis, who was part of the team which presented London 2012's plans to the International Olympic Committee in Singapore in July 2005, said:

"I am from the West Midlands - born and bred - and I know that local people won't be afraid to say what they think.

That's exactly what we want and I am confident we will give them the answers they need, to re-assure them that real progress is being made and 2012 will be great - not just for London but for the whole UK, including the West Midlands”.

The London 2012 Nations and Regions Group (NRG), chaired by Charles Allen and supported by LOCOG, provides leadership and strategic direction in ensuring that the whole of the UK is engaged with and benefits from the Games in 2012

Villa Park in Birmingham is one of five grounds outside London staging matches in the 2012 Olympic football tournament, along with Old Trafford in Manchester, St James' Park in Newcastle, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and Hampden Park in Glasgow.

USA Track and Field announced in March that it was set to base its team in 2012 in Birmingham.

The BBC phone-in will be broadcast on Radio WM, CWR (Coventry and Warwickshire), Radio Hereford and Worcester, Radio Shropshire and Radio Stoke from 6.05-6.45pm on 25 June, hosted by Radio WM's Paul Franks.

The "London 2012: Ask the Team" event in Birmingham will begin at 7.45pm with a presentation by Seb Coe and Tessa Jowell and will run until 8.45pm on the 25 June.