So it’s arrived. 2012. Olympic Year. Sporting anticipation, culture, pride and pure joy awaits – possibly a few gold medals to boot. Regardless of the politics – let’s enjoy it! The Legacy debate will continue and many sports development colleagues will be just getting on with creating the very best opportunity to capitalise on the opportunity to secure greater levels of participation. The piecemeal approach and lack of funding to support Legacy will not go unnoticed, but as a sector we are now used to working miracles with very little cash. We eagerly await the details of Sport England’s Strategy, which was previewed last month. With the scrapping of the 1 million target – we’re interested in seeing how bold this new strategy will be and how it will address an increasing focus on supporting local delivery. We’re delighted that there are still a number of forward thinking Councils who are investing in sport and physical activity. We’re working on a number of feasibility studies exploring new builds and refurbishments and very much hope they’ll come to fruition in time. 2012 will see the opening of two major facility developments we have been involved in – the £30m Orford Park Community Sports Hub in Warrington and £44m Plymouth Life Centre will open this year – iconic facilities championed and directly supported by Sport England. Godalming Leisure Centre in Waverley will open in Autumn 2012 – a project we initially worked on way back in 2004. We’ll also be announcing the winners of the  draw for the pair of Olympic Gold Medal Volleyball Tickets  – good luck to our clients from last year! SLC will continue to develop its influence in supporting the development of improved community use in schools. We recently contributed to some national guidance, building on our ground breaking work with Suffolk County Council. We are supporting a number of schools using our unique experience in this area. Duncan’s involvement in cCLOA – the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association as an Executive Member will continue with him leading the development of the new cCLOA website due for launch early this year. On the Cultural front, SLC’s and Winckworth Sherwood’s Technical guide is now being used by a large number of authorities exploring their options for their Heritage and Cultural Services. If you’d like a copy – please get in touch. On behalf of the whole SLC team, may we wish you a prosperous 2012 and very much hope we’ll be able to support you in making a positive difference to your communities this year.