Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park is a London 2012 Olympic legacy project for sport, health and wellbeing, research and learning.
The Lower Don Valley area was ripe for regeneration following the closure of Don Valley Stadium in September 2013 and provided the opportunity for Richard Caborn, who was Sports Minister at the time of the Olympic bid in 2005, to deliver tangible legacy from the 2012 Olympics.
A Sheffield City Region wide initiative, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park brings together the public, private and education sectors to put physical activity and prevention at the heart of the NHS.
The Park offers a combination of world-class sports facilities, education, new skills, research and innovation, environmental improvements and opportunities for the local community.
Already delivering impressive results, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park includes UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, recently rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, Oasis Academy Don Valley, a 3G pitch home to Sheffield Eagles and Sheffield United Women Football Club, the English Institute of Sport Sheffield (EISS) and iceSheffield.
Currently in construction, the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) is set to become the most advanced research centre in the world for developing innovations that will improve population health and physical activity levels, and the site’s park environment boasts cycle paths and Outdoor City run routes.
As the cost of healthcare continues to increase, more and more attention is rightly being placed on preventative interventions and Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park has become recognised around the world for transforming health and wellbeing through physical activity.
Earlier this year the Park was visited by His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester, and in June the site is set to welcome Tim Hollingsworth who took over as Chief Executive of Sport England in November 2018.
The Park has been recognised by a string of international visits too, including delegates representing Kawasaki City, the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chinese Olympic Committee, the China Institute of Sport Science, and the Vereniging Sport en Gemeenten – all keen to learn from Sheffield’s health and wellbeing initiative, and find out how they can replicate the project in their own cities.
His Excellency, Mr Koji Tsuruoka, Japanese Ambassador to the UK, also visited Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park as part of a two-day fact-finding experience ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The year ahead looks set to bring further exciting developments for Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. Driving economic and social renaissance in the area, offering improved education, job opportunities, sport and exercise amenities in an urban environment, allowing the local community to use and benefit from the world class facilities, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park is truly one of the city region’s sporting success stories to be proud of.
