Local voices

As a result of London winning the bid for the 2012 Olympics many promises were made, one of those promises was a rise in jobs especially in the borough of Newham. As you may or may not know, Newham is one of the poorest boroughs in the country and has been said to have one of the highest rates for youth unemployment. A study before London won the bid found that Newham is amongst the poorest boroughs in London. Poverty intensity in Newham is high. One in five people in Newham lived in households with below 30% of the national median household income compared with one in 16 in London and one in 25 in Britain. Crucially this study found that Newham was ranked 24^th for employment deprivation in England and second in London behind Lambeth. Well known politician Jack Straw told the House of Commons in the lead up to the 2012 games that “the games will transform one of the poorest and most deprived areas of London. They will create thousands of new jobs and homes. They will offer new opportunities for business in the immediate area and throughout London.” To see if this was actually the case and whether the games made good on promises such as Jack Straw I conducted an interview with a local university student James Mungai on his thoughts on the situation.

Interview with former Olympic employee James Mungai - By Isaac

How did you come across the opportunity to work for the Olympics?

“A couple months before the Olympics I was unemployed and couldn’t find a job my money was really low and I remember watching the news one night hearing there would be a lot of jobs going to help set up for the Olympics so I thought why not apply and thankfully I got the job soon as. After about a year out of work this was my first real job and to be honest the pay was better than I first thought. I’m originally from East Ham so Stratford is just a bus ride away I never would have thought growing up as a kid that the Olympics would take place in my area so any way that I could get involved I was going to jump at the chance, I guess you can say I helped create history” (laughs)

What did the job involve?

“It was mainly a lot of manual labour really; lots of lifting and stuff, working to get the venue sorted and a lot of the work were centred on the opening ceremony. There was a lot of overtime as well which you don’t get at most jobs so that really helped me out as well as I was trying to save up for a car. Seeing the opening ceremony live knowing that you helped create the set for it was really cool.”

What are some of the things you’ll take away from this experience?

I got the chance to get involved with the biggest event in the entire world that’s something you can tell the kids (laughs) As I worked most of the Olympic nights I got to see a lot of the events for free which was really really cool as I’m a big sports fan. I got to see a lot of my sporting heroes, as I am originally from Kenya seeing David Rudisha break the world record in the 800m was really special. I also got to see the legend that is Usain Bolt and was even lucky enough to get a picture with Mo Farah (as seen above)

Have you noticed any changes in Newham since the Olympics?

Yeah a massive one to be honest, a lot of money has been invested into the borough as a result of us getting the bid. Growing up in the borough there wasn’t much to do so I guess that’s why kids were resorting to crime but now there’s so many things to do it can keep them pre occupied. Stuff such as the new Westfield being built has helped out our image we’re seen as a more culturally vibrant place now as opposed to just being the ghetto.

Interview with Kyron Goode, who worked on the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics with the OBS.

Interview with Kyron Goode, a local resident who worked on the Olympics and Paralympics with the OBS. Interview conducted by Tommy

What was your role at the Olympics?

Support services assistant with OBS (Olympics Broadcasting Service).

How did you get the job?

My university gave the option to apply to work there, but I was lucky that I got to work for the duration of the OBS building being operational, from a month or so before the Olympics and then throughout the Paralympics.

How was it?

Overall it was positive, working with an international team to broadcast one of the biggest events in the world. We broadcasted to an estimated 4 billion people throughout the Olympics and Paralympics so it was a very unique experience and I am happy to have been part of it.

How do you feel it affected Stratford?

In the short term I think it did bring some people together, for example while in a local shop I overheard an Eastern European man congratulating a woman who had a British flag draped around her shoulders on one of team GBs medal wins. Quite often there is a lot of division between people of different nationalities but it was something the whole world was watching. But there were a lot of broken promises about the regeneration of the area, Newham was promised an economic boost to its community but those visiting the Olympics were kept nearly entirely away from the surrounding areas, as Stratford train station allowed immediate access to Westfield and the Olympic park, bypassing everywhere else.

And in the long term?

I don’t think there will be any real long term changes to the area, since the residents didn’t receive any major boost to their own business’ or incomes and the “Olympic Spirit” left with the Olympics. The only lasting changes seem to be Westfield and the Olympic park being there.

Do you feel the local people got more job opportunities as a result of the Olympics?

Well obviously I did, and so did quite a lot of others from surrounding universities, and it was fairly well paid work. But there were also lots of unpaid volunteers working in the Olympic park, which many seemed to enjoy, but voluntary positions for one of the poorest boroughs isn’t exactly helpful. I feel that many of the volunteers were exploited and some unemployed people were actually forced to work there in order to keep receiving their jobseekers benefits, and made to sleep in tents. A lot of money was wasted that could have gone to the people working.

How do you think the increased security in the area affected the local community?

I think it was excessive and created a sense of tension in the area. The missiles on top of the block of flats and the warships on the Thames were a huge waste of money. Also the thousands of uniformed soldiers they brought in, and armed police wandering around the park and Westfield. The British public aren’t used to seeing their police carry guns, and it may have made the tourists from countries where armed police are normal more comfortable, but it made a lot of people uncomfortable.