Press Release - 06.09.2006

Children from five sports - athletics, swimming, gymnastics, table-tennis and fencing - are arriving in Glasgow tomorrow (Thursday) to compete in this new and exciting sports event for youngsters.

Table-Tennis will begin on Friday at Scotstoun Stadium. Athletics and Fencing will also take place at Scotstoun - on Saturday and Sunday.

Swimming at Tollcross pool will be staged on Saturday, with gymnastics being held at the Kelvin Hall on Saturday.

Events for athletes with a disability will also take place as part of the athletics and swimming programmes.

Major championship-style Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be held with the opening ceremony at the SECC on Thursday and the closing ceremony at The Science Museum on Sunday evening. All young athletes will be accommodated in an 'athlete's village'.

Some of the Britain's greatest Olympians - Steve Redgrave, David Wilkie, Liz McColgan, Kelly Holmes, Steve Frew and Kate Allenby - will all be in Glasgow over the next few days to offer their support to the competitors.

Richard Caborn MP, Chair of the Millennium Commission and Minister for Sport at Westminster, said:

"The UK School Games is a significant step forward in the evolution of competitive school sport, and it will be a showcase for our future Olympic and Paralympic Champions. Over a thousand young people will come and compete and feel the excitement of being part of a major sporting event. This experience will hopefully inspire many to go on to further greatness on the world stage - and in London in 2012. I want to thank all the competitors, organisers and volunteers for helping make this, what I'm sure will be a truly successful event and a solid foundation to build on for future years."

Scottish Sports Minister Patricia Ferguson said:

"It's fitting that Glasgow, a city passionate about sport, is hosting the inaugural UK School Games. It will be a great experience for the hundreds of children taking part in what will be a sporting extravaganza. Scotland loves to compete and we love to support our athletes as they push themselves to the limit."

The Youth Sport Trust - the organisation who work to support the education and development of all young people through sport - has been given the task of organising both the inaugural UK School Games, and the following five events until 2011.

Chief Executive of Youth Sport Trust, Steve Grainger believes that the event will be an unqualified success. He said:

"The UK School Games will provide a great platform for us to develop a world-class event for talented young sports people and help create a highly successful sporting nation. We are delighted to be leading the development of an event which will act as an inspiration to thousands of young people, not just those competing, but also those involved as volunteers, coaches and officials. The UK School Games will act as a catalyst for a transformation of competitive opportunities for school age children and is one of the most exciting developments in sport for young people in years."

The UK School Games is funded by the Millennium Commission, which is providing a National Lottery grant of £1.5m. The UK School Games is also being supported by Visa as presenting sponsor, Glasgow City Council, EventScotland and sportscotland

Mike O'Connor CBE, Director of the Millennium Commission, believes that the UK School Games will provide a wonderful experience for the competitors, volunteers and spectators. He said:

"We need to inspire more young people to get involved in sport and physical activity if we are to compete at international level and for the sake of our good health. Following Scotland's superb performance at the Commonwealth Games it is fitting that Glasgow plays host to the first UK School Games which I am sure will become a tradition and bring both benefits to athletes and excitement to spectators."

Visa is the presenting sponsor of UK School Games. Vice President of Visa UK Greg Twitcher said:

"Visa is keen to be able to provide genuine work experience for young elite British athletes who are aiming to compete in future Olympic and Paralympic Games, as this kind of competition has not previously been available to them. It is for this reason that Visa has chosen to be the presenting sponsor of the UK School Games. Visa brings a wealth of experience to the world of sports sponsorship, having been a global sponsor of the Olympic Games for the last 21 years and of the Paralympic Games since 2002, and sponsorship of both events continues for London 2012."

Councillor John Lynch, Executive Member for Cultural and Leisure Services said:

">We are delighted to host the inaugural UK School Games in Glasgow. We have a great track record in hosting sporting competitions, and I am sure this will prove to be a very exciting event featuring the cream of Britain's young sporting talent."

Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of sportscotland said:

"sportscotland welcomes the inaugural UK School Games to Glasgow. This is an exciting multi-sport event, bringing together young people from throughout the UK under the banner of competition and friendship. We are delighted to be supporting this event."

David Williams, Chief Executive of EventScotland said:

"EventScotland is delighted that our investment in the UK School Games has helped to secure the event for Glasgow. Providing our young athletes with the opportunity to compete in an event that aims to re-create a Commonwealth or Olympic Games atmosphere can only benefit our future stars."

Notes to editors:

1. The Millennium Commission is a distributor of funds raised by the National Lottery and it has distributed over £2 billion to hundreds of project and thousands of people around the UK.

Its funding programmes have included a major national programme of capital projects, including the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Hampden Park Stadium in Glasgow, Odyssey in Belfast and new sports facilities with soccer and ten five-a-side pitches at Mile End Park in East London.

The Millennium Commission's income from the National Lottery ceased in August 2001. For further information please contact: Shabana Pathan, Communications Officer, Millennium Commission, 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE. Tel: 020 7880 2071 Mobile: 07771 565 606 Fax: 020 7880 2000;www.millennium.gov.uk

2. The Youth Sport Trust is a registered charity established in 1994 to build a brighter future for young people through sport. Its mission is to support the education and development of all young people through sport. Please visitwww.youthsporttrust.org for more information.

3 Fast Track is delivering event management and media services for UK School Games with the Youth Sport Trust.

4. EventScotland is a joint venture between the Scottish Executive and VisitScotland. It was created to deliver the Major Events Strategy published by the Scottish Executive in November 2002.

The strategy is designed to maximise the benefits of existing events, to attract new events, to showcase Scotland's assets and to encourage more people to visit Scotland to experience at first hand major sporting, cultural and arts events being staged in the country. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.eventscotland.org

5. The BBC has been confirmed as the official broadcast partner for UK School Games in 2006.