Children emulate Olympic heroes at sports festival (From Times Series)
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Children emulate Olympic heroes at sports festival in Colindale
4:20pm Monday 3rd September 2012 in News
By Emma Innes
Children take part in running races
Children who live on Barnet’s largest housing estate sought to emulate their Olympic heroes during a sports festival on Friday.
Social landlord, Barnet Homes, organised the festival, Urban Gamez, which took place at the Grahame Park Estate and involved more than 130 young people.
There were 60m sprints down The Concourse – the main street in the estate – along with dancing, music and entertainment.
London Olympic Taekwando bronze medallist, Lutalo Muhammad, was among the guests.
He said: “I go to Middlesex University so the Urban Gamez here are a wonderful opportunity to be in tune with the local community, see what’s going on, get to do some fun activities with the children and hopefully inspire them to get into sport themselves.
“So much wonderful work has been done here and sport is a great avenue for young people.
“It’s very important that we have sport activities in our local communities, so young people have an activity and an outlet for their energy.
“It can also give them goals and ambitions in life.”
The event also saw the official opening of a new ball park by Deputy Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Kate Salinger.
The park caters for basketball and a range of other ball sports.
Barnet Homes Chief Executive, Tracey Lees, said: “We’re determined to do all we can to contribute to the London Olympic legacy, and there couldn’t be a better time to encourage children and young people on our estates to get into sport.
“They’ve just watched Bradley Wiggins win the Tour de France and Olympic gold. He grew up on a council estate just a few miles away in Kilburn - so if he can do it, so can they.
“We want to tap into that enthusiasm as we encourage children and young people to get into exercise and fulfill their potential.
“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to create new basketball facilities at Grahame Park and I hope everyone enjoyed the day.”
