Should Glasgow win the bid to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), a global YOG twinning program, Hand in Hand, would be created, building on the work happening in schools such as Shawlands Academy, the UK’s top International School.
The proposed Culture and Education Programme project would start pre-Games to build on the extensive twinning work already happening in Glasgow to enable young people to share cultures, develop as global citizens, and learn to respect and value their differences.
Glasgow 2018 says that during the 2018 Youth Games a “world market” in the Youth Olympic Village would then represent countries across the globe, providing a shared forum for young athletes and local young people to take part in activities. Local young people would create these stalls as a way of welcoming and befriending their athlete friends.
Shona Robison, Scottish Government Minister for Commonwealth and Sport, Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, and Seb Coe, Olympic champion and Chairman of London 2012 heard from pupils at Shawlands Academy about how Glasgow’s young people are already leading the way by engaging with their peers across the globe.
Students from Shawlands have contributed to the creation of the bid’s wordmark, have taken part in a consultation about the contents of the Candidature File, and one of the four young people pictured in the front of the document is a pupil at the school.
Coe said, “at Shawlands Academy alone more than 50 languages are spoken and the young people here use this to engage with other young people across the globe, from Malawi to Bangladesh. Hosting the Youth Olympic Games in 2018 would allow Glasgow and the UK to continue to inspire a generation internationally, in their own language”.
Paul Bush, Director of Glasgow 2018 said, “the Hand in Hand project is just one of a number that the bid will be delivering in the coming months as we demonstrate the global impact a city like Glasgow, with schools using more than 100 languages, can have through its Culture and Education Programme for the YOG.
“Underpinned by a compact and sophisticated master plan, a YOG in Glasgow can build on London 2012 to deliver a bold vision for the Olympic Movement which will empower young people in countries across the world”.
