The inspiring was, in my opinion, certainly done. The day opened with interviews with a Paralympic games maker and official, as well as a 2012 torchbearer, all of whom were able to give insight into their unique journeys to London 2012. It was a particularly unique experience for the latter, as the torchbearer was Jordan Duckitt, one of the seven young people that had the opportunity to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony on that incredible night almost a year ago.
Those in attendance were then treated to two very different athlete insights from GB women's hockey bronze medalist Helen Richardson, and Paralympic sprinter Sam Ruddock during a question & answer session. For Helen it has been quite a journey since her first Olympic games in Sydney in 2000, and it was particularly inspiring to hear that, after the team's disappointment after the Beijing games in 2008, the team all sat down and told themselves that they were going to win the gold in London. Unfortunately that was not the case. But the fact that they were still able to win a medal and how they all came back from the disappointment of previous games is still an impressive and inspiring feat.
As I said previously, Sam's story is quite different. He only started Paralympic training in March 2012 and competed in his first athletics event in April 2012, so to make it into the GB Paralympic squad was something quite remarkable. But that wasn't the main thing I picked up from what he was saying. The thing that shocked me most was that he didn't seem aware that he could compete separately from able-bodied athletes until after he took up athletics. For me, it's a tragedy that this is the case and it's vital that young disabled people are made aware of the opportunities available to them.
Something else that Sam said that I thought was interesting was that the athletes had 'inspired a generation' so it was now time for young people to lead their generation - and he's absolutely right. The Olympic and Paralympic games certainly were inspiring but now is the time to use that inspiration in order to create a relevant, meaningful and sustainable legacy of the games.
I personally think the reflection and gathering of new ideas was also done well, with some great legacy project presentations made by some of the schools in the region. Hopefully other schools were able to take note of what they have done and can implement something similar. They were also treated to some practical sessions run by NGBs of non-mainstream sports, such as Boccia and Hockey, as well as given a chance to try out some short, fun games that could be used with primary school children.
But, for me, similar is the key. The whole point behind the Lead your Generation project is that each school across the country has different problems and will therefore need different solutions. The hope is that schools will be able to identify the problem areas and then address them, using the inspiration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in order to do so and thus creating their own legacy. Legacy can't be something that is just handed down from the top, it has to be created from the bottom.
As I said in my closing speech yesterday, it was not an event that celebrated a legacy that has been created - the hard work never finishes with regards to legacy. There is always more that can be done using the inspiration of London 2012.
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