Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell MP highlights the efforts being made to ensure the 2012 Olympics bring more than great sport to the East End of London.

As you look across London you can see the impact of the Olympics on the East End through its’ rapidly changing skyline as venues like the Stadium and the Aquatics centre take shape. 

London 2012 is going to be a spectacular sporting event but the Olympic dream doesn’t stop for the UK when the lights go down on the closing ceremony of London 2012. We won our bid because of our vision of creating an Olympics out of contaminated industrial wasteland that regenerates one of the most deprived areas of London.

That is why 75p in every pound we spend is going on legacy and regeneration and why, more than three years before the Olympic Games even start, we are more advanced in our legacy plans for the Olympic Park than any modern day Olympic Games.

Post-London 2012 the Olympic Park will become the largest new urban park in Europe for 150 years, creating a thriving new community that mixes high quality homes with a high-tech business park and world class sporting facilities. An area that was previously a transport black hole, will be well connected to central London and the rest of Europe thanks to Stratford International station and 15,000 new homes, new schools, health and education facilities will make the park a unique place to live. 

But the Olympic legacy isn’t just about bricks and mortar, it’s also about jobs and skills. 

We are working to ensure London 2012 leaves a long term employment legacy for east London by helping local people, particularly those currently unemployed, access training and jobs on the Olympic Park.

Just last week a new centre for the National Skills Academy for Construction (NSAfC) at the National Construction College was unveiled in Newham. The NSAfC will provide thousands of training opportunities for men and women across London in much needed trades including plant maintenance, concreting, formworking, steel fixing, flooring and highways maintenance.

We are also using the Games as an opportunity to blaze a trail for equal employment opportunities, using London 2012 as an opportunity to showcase the fascinating and fulfilling careers open to women in the construction industry. 

Women in manual trades make up just 2 per cent of the national construction workforce. There are currently 217 women working for the Olympic Park – around five per cent of the workforce - but we want this to increase. 

Through the Women into Construction project, the Olympic Delivery Authority are working closely with their contractors, training organisations, the five Host Boroughs and local networks to attract, train and support women into construction. 

So, whilst I hope there’s a gold rush for Team GB in 2012, I believe that the real prize will be delivering an Olympic legacy that benefits as many people as possible; whether that benefit is felt by learning a new skill, getting a new job or holding the keys to a brand new home on the Olympic Park. 

Tessa Jowell, Olympics Minister.

For further details please log on to: http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/work-for-2012/construction-jobs-and-skills/contacts.php  or call 0845 155 2012 to register your interest for construction jobs and training in relation to London 2012.