Lee Valley Regional Park congratulates young velodreamers
Date Published: 28/02/2008
Curwen Primary School in Newham, London, and St Robert of Newminster School in Washington, Tyne and Wear, were today announced as the primary and secondary school winners of the London 2012 ‘VeloDream’ competition – a UK schools design competition launched by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), and supported by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, for pupils to design their own dream Olympic cycling venues of the future.
A world-class Velodrome and BMX facilities will host the track and BMX events during 2012, and after the Games a road cycle circuit and mountain biking facilities will be added to create a legacy VeloPark. The VeloDream competition launched in September last year, asked school children aged 5 – 16 to tap into their creative talents to design their own dream VeloPark to host the cycling sports of a future Games.
More than 500 schools around the country signed up for the competition and the entries were narrowed down to 10 finalists who travelled to London for two days of grand final events and activities yesterday and today. In an awards ceremony this morning at the Design Museum in London, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and Paralympian Ade Adipitan announced Curwen Primary School in Newham as the national primary school winners and St Robert of Newminster School in Washington as the national secondary school VeloDream winners.
Vivienne Francis, Sports Manager at Curwen Primary School in Newham, said:
“The VeloDream competition was a great chance to bring the children’s interests in sport and design together and create something inspired by the 2012 Games. Reaching the VeloDream finals and getting to meet world-class athletes and designers was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so to win the competition is amazing and I’m proud of all our pupils.”
John Green, Head of Technology at St Robert of Newminster School, Washington, said:
“The VeloDream competition was chance to use our students’ interests in design and engage with the excitement of a real life project. The designs the students came up with were excellent so I’m delighted that their talents and hard work have helped them win this competition.”
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said:
“The VeloDream competition has been a great chance for young people across the whole country to get involved in the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“The designs entered have been great – the imagination and innovation shown illustrates the power of the Games to inspire young people across the UK. I congratulate the winning schools and look forward to seeing more of their work as they begin helping our VeloPark designers create a stunning venue that we can all be proud of.”
David Higgins, Olympic Delivery Authority Chief Executive, said:
“The VeloDream competition has been a great chance to bring the excitement of 2012 into the classroom and inspire schoolchildren around the country. I have been hugely impressed by the design entries we have received from schools across the UK but Curwen Primary School and St Robert of Newminster School are worthy winners for their innovative and imaginative designs. I congratulate them on winning the VeloDream competition and hope the 2012 Games will continue to inspire them to use their creative talents.”
Shaun Dawson, Chief Executive of Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, said:
“Congratulations to the students of Curwen Primary School and St Robert of Newminster School who have excelled themselves in demonstrating amazing creativity in their designs. These students have set a fantastic benchmark for the standard of cycling sports facilities across the UK. We are delighted to have the opportunity to continue our relationship with students from these schools in the build up to London 2012 and beyond.”
Curwen Primary School and St Robert of Newminster School were today awarded with the VeloDream winners’ trophies and will now be invited to a special workshop with the London 2012 VeloPark design team Hopkins Architects, where they will help design an element of the VeloPark building in the Olympic Park.