27/07/2017 London News

Tonight on BBC London News we're live at the QE Olympic Park.

Five years on from the 2012 Games have the five Olympic

There's no doubt this part of east London has

But at what cost and what difference has it made to the lives

It is like attorney do, it is OK from a distance. -- a tornado.

Also tonight is trading a place on the podium a price worth paying

to invest in sport at grassroots level?

The head of UK sport says they face some difficult decisions.

There is a big review coming up next year which will say we are

considering we have more China -- challenges financially, should be be

Plus one of the most memorable moments of the Games -

we hear from judo silver medallist Gemma Gibbons

And we reunite the London teenagers who starred alongside

Dizzee Rascal at the opening ceremony - in front of a global

And it tornado. If you are caught in its path you are displaced and that

is essentially what a legacy seems to be doing. Is creating

displacement amongst us. It would help 34,000 people into

work in this borough. In terms of housing, there is not enough and it

is expensive. You have to lay the blame at the foot of government.

Government is not putting the money into housing it should.

What about the big builds? And has a ?12 million loan

outstanding. The aquatic Centre was subsidised and is expected to

continue for many years. I think it is true to say it is the

only Olympic Games that is providing a long-term legacy and

transformation in the area it was based.

The Olympics was a catalyst that transformed the area. Its impact

depends on your perspective. I'm joined now by Dr Penny

Bernstock, Director of the Centre for East London Studies,

who's lead research on the impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

on this part of the capital. We heard a tale of two Stratford is.

Is that a fair assessment? I think it is. It is important to

acknowledge that lots of investment has been spent in this area. Some of

that must trickle down to the local populations. East Village is a good

example of what is working. It is a mixed community with lots of

housing. This is the housing development that

used to be the place where the athletes stayed.

Yes. It is 2800 units and many are for social rent. There's lots of

investment, new health facilities, a brand-new school. But it is like a

grammar school for urban regeneration. You have this

fantastic facility in the park then if you go across the road you see

lots of people living in difficult conditions. Homelessness has gone up

in the area significantly. It has always had one of the highest

waiting lists in the country and continues to have. You have those

two worlds and we need lots more East villages. As the time goes on

and Moore gets developed, the amount of housing could drop as low as 22%.

Talking about job creation, have we seen new jobs for people living

here? It is quite early on. Lots of jobs

are in the area. Lots of jobs employed local people. There is

promise of more jobs coming so here in the East is, the local

broadcasting centre is being converted and lots of tenants are

making -- lots of tenants in that and they're making the first

electric car. We don't just want people to get entry-level jobs, we

want decent jobs. Thank you very much for joining us.

That is the impact on London but what about the sporting legacy.

Chris Slegg is in another part of the park.

Behind me is the aquatic centre, swimming has seen a huge decline in

participation and it is not alone. The question I being asked is

whether the generation that was inspired, five years on hubby being

afforded a proper outlet for that inspiration? -- have they been.

Inspire a generation, the pride that helped

In most sports, weekly participation has not risen.

swimming with 757,000 people fewer taking part every week and football

Some, including those who run the Tower Hamlets

sports foundation blame the lack of investment at ground level.

They say they are being forced out of

business after the council refused the request for funding.

It is most appalling when some of the most

deprived children in the country, like the children of Tower Hamlets

have these opportunities taken away from them.

My family are not at the state where they can pay a certain

amount for my cricket for me to have fun.

Tower Hamlets council says it is committed to ensuring young

On Sunday, Lord Coe was asked to what

extent he blamed the failure to boost participation on government

decisions to cut sports budgets and schools.

I don't actually because for the first couple of years after

the games, I was involved with legacy work in this area.

We found about 150 million to go into primary schools.

More people are running than ever before, more are cycling.

They are among the few sports which have seen a rise in

How has athletics made the leap from Olympic success

At Lee Valley athletics club, they have found the Olympic bounce.

It can be accessed by anybody, rich or poor, from any background.

It has so many disciplines in athletics,

Olympic gold medal winner, Katherine Grainger is

It funds elite athletes based on their medal prospects.

that model needs to change to benefit all sports at all levels.

Do we want a wider approach actually?

Maybe we do have to expect less medals.

But support more sports who won't be as successful.

That is constantly going to be looked at,

there is a big review coming up next year.

For some, sacrificing Olympic glory for

greater grass-roots opportunity will feel like a price worth paying.

We don't know what would have happened if London had not hosted

the games, perhaps the decline would have been sharper. There have been

changes in society which no one can be blamed for, video culture, the

rising iPads, the temptation for young people not to get out and get

active. It does seem that grass-roots sport is suffering in

the capital and around the country. That is why questions are being

asked, why we have had success like rowing and cycling, should there be

a wider appeal in grass-roots sport which taps into wider communities?

All these questions are being asked five years on. It seems like we

could be in for some sort of shake-up next year. Thank you very

much for that. Plenty more from the Queen Elizabeth Park later in the

programme, including I will be speaking about my brand-new album

and what it was like to perform at the Opening Ceremony of the

Olympics. That is still to come but for no, let us catch up with the

rest of the news in the studio. Thank you.

It's been revealed the Grenfell Tower is unlikely to be demolished

till the end of next year but, within the next few weeks,

the building is to be covered in a protective plastic wrap.

As they continue their investigation into the fire.

if you were living close to Grenfell Tower burned, you

It is not what I feel but what I remember.

When I see the building. I see some mothers through their babies away

from the windows. When mothers shout, I am dying but try to live my

son. Every morning residents here and in neighbouring blocks wake up

to what is still a horrific and extensive crime scene. You can see

forensic teams pouring through their rubbish as part of their recovery.

From mid-August the building will get a protective wrap and scaffold

which will begin the process of taking it down. By putting the

scaffolding round, we can put a lift on the building which will allow us

to take some of the material, 15 times on each floor down the side of

the building. It will also help the criminal investigation because by

having the scaffold and wrapping, it will help us take some of the panels

from the outside of the building to take them away for forensic

investigation. One idea is to have drawings by local schoolchildren

projected on the external wrap. Once the scaffolding is up, we will have

a discussion about the building. That is an issue for the community.

There are some live petitions going around as you know. A memorial park

or gardens. It is important it is led by the community and we agree

with what they want to do, so that'll be the next step of the

process towards the end of 2018. Earlier at the memorial service for

victims of the Grenfell Tower took place in a church in Kensington,

more pain and tears for the people of this tragedy speared.

The country's most overcrowded train services have been revealed -

and unsurprisingly - many operate in and out of London.

In fact, Government figures show that the most congested service

is Southern Rail's 7:16 train from East Grinstead to London Bridge.

Its 12 carriages are designed to hold 640 people -

but figures show almost 14,000 often squeeze onboard.

Latin America's largest sailing ship- the second

largest in the world - is visiting the capital

The Union - which is more than 53 metres tall -

It'll be moored in West India Docks until Sunday.

Giving Londoners the chance to get onboard.

That's all from me - time now to return to Alice back

Thank you. As you can see, we have a tally of all the medals won by Team

GB in 2012. 29 Olympic and 34 Paralympic. Over here, 19 Olympic

and 43 Paralympic bronze medals. One of the medallist was Gemma Gibbons

who won a silver medal in the judo. Five years on she has been

reflecting on the 2012 games and life after the Olympics.

These were the moments in 2012 that made Gemma Gibbons famous, a silver

"Love you, Mum" was the message to her mother who died

I feel proud, it was a moment that came in a couple seconds which

I really like this clip, I have seen it

before and you can see in the

background, it goes on to the British

team and everyone in the

They are so happy, they are cheering.

Gemma's life has revolved around Judo since she was six.

Now she is swapping the mat for the classroom.

I first went to secondary school at 11 or 12 and I fell in love

From a early age, I knew that once my judo was over I

Gemma has had practice teaching children here

at her old club in Greenwich where there are a few familiar faces.

I think she will make a fantastic teacher.

The school that get her permanently will be very

Winning an Olympic medal has already made Gemma an inspiration

for those at her old club but what about the challenge of teaching

It sounds quite weird but I think you can,

every teacher out there, that is one of the reasons for becoming a

teacher, their job is to inspire the kids to strive for their best.

Meeting her from the same club as me made me realise that if I worked

hard enough and did what she did maybe

I could come out as successful as Gemma.

What is more nerve-racking, an Olympic final or standing in

Just like judo, as soon as I started competing,

those nerves went away and the same with teaching, you're in the zone

Judo has taught Gemma Gibbons many things

down the years, now it is her turn to do the teaching.

They may not have won medals - but they were widely regarded

The army of gamesmakers, who gave up their time to volunteer

and helped to make the Olympics and Paralympics such a success.

John Freedman, who checked tickets at the Olympic

Cast your minds back five years, wanted if you like on that evening?

I had already seen the dress rehearsal so I knew there was a very

special show. Once the crowds arrived, and the sense that the

whole world was watching, there was just excitement and relief and joy

that we were pulling it off and it was going as everyone had hoped.

Obviously you've got a lot from that expedience but you are that and

dawn, tell us that. I got involved in an organisation called join in

which was set up as a legacy to the Greens and is about supporting

grassroots sports throughout the country. You went to Rio De Janeiro?

I did. The big events are fantastic but the smaller events need

volunteers as well so organisations like this one are very important.

What have you taken from the experience? I will work for our

reform Synagogue which is an organisation run by volunteers. My

experience of the games was volunteers being trained well and

knowing that they do useful work and I carry that with me. A positive

experience all right, thank you for joining us. Five years ago, we were

just hours away from the Opening Ceremony. I was lucky enough to be

there, along with 60,000 other people and a worldwide audience of

900 million people. One of the performers was Dizzee

Rascal and I caught up with him recently.

I think sometimes I take it for granted.

Then people remind you, the Olympics, is not

going to happen again in my lifetime, is it?

I remember when I was performing, making sure I didn't

perform to the crowd, I performed to the other performers

because there were so many of them on the ground.

Did you feel the pressure, were you nervous

When I got asked to do it, I don't think I understood the

gravity of it until we did that dress rehearsal and the whole thing

It was like being in a movie I guess.

It touched me because like I said when I got

the story of Britain, and I got a place in it, it was crazy.

I was standing with the dude who invented

I have made this album, Raskit, that is owed now

I spent two and a half years making that.

So you recorded it in America, are they aware of what sounds

Even with the early stuff I'm associated with, I

was just having fun and trying to experiment.

Now you're back in London, back home?

I feel more relaxed than I did about any other album.

Now it is out and people like it, I am just kind of

Dizzee Rascal talking to me earlier. It was not just big names who were

stars of the show, they were joined by a cast of thousands of ordinary

Londoners, among them some young people. Let us take a look.

I am glad to see that Jasmine and Henry joined me now. Can you

remember that evening and were you daunted by its? Me personally, I

could not understand the pressure at first but the support of the cast

members and friends, the team, it's got to be ready to get out in front

of people. Jasmine, that experience must have changed your life. You

were leading an ordinary life and then you had an audience of 900

million and you had to kiss the stranger, why was that? Yes. Was it

awkward at the time? Know, everyone was very supportive, it was a

professional thing. It felt fine at the time, it just felt like another

dance moves. We rehearsed it so many times. Did you realise how much it

would change your life? It hasn't particularly changed my life. I am

very happy to have done it, we were part of something amazing and I feel

really good to be packed here. We can judge did something really

special. It was really strange but I do not live a different life. What

lasting memories will you remember? I think the support of everyone in

the team, especially my personal friends and the crew, they have put

me through the hardest times. -- they helped me through. Thank you

both very much, it must be a moment that major very proud. No return to

the weather. Five years ago we were very worried about what the weather

might do. Yes, it felt like it would never stop raining. I didn't

interview for German television trying to reassure them that it did

not rain always in London. We had the wettest June on record for

London. But when it came to the games, after a few showers, it was

magic. What can we expect today? I will

round and give you the forecast. We have a mixture of sunshine and

showers. You can see the showers have been crossing from west to east

on the breeze. There have been some heavy winds. Into this evening, we

will see one or two further showers through the next few hours.

Overnight, they will become fewer. Mostly it is dry and clear tonight,

temperatures fall to 11 and 13 degrees. Up early tomorrow morning,

there will be beautiful sunshine like at the moment. That will come

and go throughout the day. The breeze will pick up from the West or

Southwest. Temperatures just more cloud this afternoon. That

dream will be with us on off through the weekends at the start. The rain

is never far away this weekend. We will keep a lot of clouds, rained on

and off through Saturday. Becoming heavier in the evening. Sunshine

will see sunshine and showers returning. -- Sunday will see. An

unsettled theme continuing into the working week. No sign at the moment

of settled weather. Further showers through Monday and Tuesday, equally

some dry spells breaking through from time to time and it will be

breezy. Temperatures just below where they should be at this time of

year. We really need to have another Olympic Games because that sorts the

weather out, doesn't it? What about the ?9 billion price tag? But thanks

for the weather anyway. That's all from this special

programme on the fifth anniversary of the opening of London's Olympic

Games. I'll be back with

the late news at ten. But from us all on the programme

for now, goodnight. BBC Four looks at how life has

changed in the last 50 years We had to shock people.

How else were they going to see us? You can't ignore

men in nuns' habits.