Schools to get mascot visits, promise LOCOG

Wenlock and Mandeville pic: London 2012

Olympic organisers have promised that the official mascots will soon appear in Hackney schools, after it was disclosed that the Games borough had yet to receive any visits from the pair.

After the lack of visits was highlighted  in the Evening Standard and the Hackney Gazette, the London 2012 Organising Committee promised the Olympic mascots would appear.

Schools can either compete to for a visit from the mascots under the Get Set scheme or band together to pay £850 for a visit from both.

A spokesman for LOCOG said: “We are committed to making sure schools in Hackney benefit from the Get Set network and receive visits from Wenlock and Mandeville between now and the Games.”

London has received 50 visits in total from the mascots since they were launched in May 2010. Hackney’s neighbouring Olympic borough Tower Hamlets has had three visits to its schools.

The Get Set network is part of a drive to get young people and children involved in the Games in schools, colleges and local education providers across the UK.

The spokesman added that children from Hackney schools have been special guests at London 2012 events where they have met the mascots, such as its One Year To Go celebrations and International Paralympic Day.

There are several ways schools can win a visit from the mascots. Most notably a ‘school of the month’ competition that sees two schools win the chance to welcome the mascots.

Visits can also occur through other projects and competitions run by the Get Set programme.

A spokesman for the Learning Trust in Hackney said “almost all schools” in Hackney had signed up to Get Set network, which organises the competitions.

Leave a Reply