Earlier this month London Mayor Boris Johnson announced that 1 in 8 children in the city will get the opportunity to go to the Olympic Games free of charge. However, no such plans have been made for children in other parts of the UK, even though the government is diverting finance from Wales to fund the games.
Plaid Cymru’s Culture spokesperson, Bethan Jenkins AM, has called for this to be corrected to make sure that children in Wales are given the opportunity to get an Olympic experience.
It is estimated that Wales could be losing out on as much as £437m as a result of the games with very little economic benefit being returned in terms of the lead up to the games or staging events. There are around 338,215 children who fall into the 10-18 year old category for this promotion in Wales.
Plaid Cymru’s Culture Spokesperson Bethan Jenkins AM said:
“I would like to see this proposal opened up to Welsh children so that they can a special Olympic experience. There will be Welsh athletes taking part in these games and it would be fantastic if children from Wales where present to cheer them on.
We know that Wales is a sport mad nation and I have no doubt that children across Wales would love to get the opportunity to go to the games. As a nation we have taken a massive financial hit. There are charities, sports clubs and community projects up and down the country that have seen their funding cut or even stopped to pay for the regeneration of London. Is it really fair that Welsh children are not even given a look in when there is some positive to be seen?
It seems highly unfair that the Conservatives are putting in place measures that will see 120,000 school children from London get to go to the games for free whilst Welsh youngsters miss out. If the UK government do want to try and sell these games as an Olympics for the whole of the UK then I would have thought it would only be fair to include Wales in this process.
Boris Johnson is providing 120,000 as a payback for London’s spend on the games. Wales has lost out on around £437m so it is only right that our children are also compensated.”
