Hugh Robertson visits the Olympic International Inspiration programme in Jordan.

Hugh witnesses first hand the international legacy of the London 2012 Olympics.

Hugh Robertson visits the Olympic International Inspiration programme in Jordan.

Hugh Robertson MP, the Shadow Sports and Olympics Minister, travelled to Amman in November for a two day visit to the International Inspiration programmes based in Jordan. International Inspiration is the international legacy of the London 2012 Olympics, run by UK Sport and the FCO, and seeks to deliver international development aims through sport.

In a packed two day programme, Hugh started by visiting both the elementary school for girls and the boys preparatory school in the Amman Camp for Palestinian Refugees and some community sports facilities nearby. After meeting with both head teachers and touring the schools, Hugh took part in a football coaching session for boys and a PE session for girls both organised by the Canadian NGO 'Right to Play' whose programme in Amman is overseen by UNICEF.
On the second day, Hugh visited the Zein Al-Sharaf School and the Princess Basma Secondary School to see sports programmes delivered by The British Council. The visits were interspersed by a meeting with The British Ambassador, James Watt, and lunches with both UNICEF and the British Council. The latter was attended by Ms Lana Jaghbeer, Secretary General of the Jordan Olympic Committee.

After the visit Hugh said, " International Inspiration provides opportunities to children through sport that simply would not exist otherwise. It was fascinating to see not only how much the children enjoyed the sessions but also how many wider lessons about discipline, teamwork and attention to detail they were learning through sport.
Both the Jordanians and the British Council were extremely excited about the potential of sport as a tool for international development. If we can drive this forward, it can only be to the benefit of the country itself and the wider region."