London 2012 miss a chance to engage youth in volunteering programme

WHEN Seb Coe presented his bid book for the 2012 Olympics he was accompanied by a 14-year old aspiring basketball player from east London.

YOUTHFUL PROMISE: Amber Charles, accompanied by Seb Coe, meets IOC president Jacques Rogge after London was named host of the 2012 Olympics. But she would have been too young to volunteer (Getty Images)

The photogenic Amber Charles was alongside Coe and his team a few months later for the vote in Singapore, as London's bid team packed their delegation with 30 young sports people - rather than men and women in suits.

The message was clear - inspiring youth would be at the centre of any London Games and it proved a winning tactic.

For the last five years much has been made of putting youngsters at the heart of the Olympics - the much criticised logo was even designed with the digital generation in mind.

So what a lost opportunity it is that London 2012 officials have ruled they have set a minimum age of 18 for the recruitment of 70,000 volunteers for the Olympics and Paralympics. 

Former Labour MP Tom Levitt, who recently retired from his Derbyshire constituency, has been leading a campaign to lower the limit to 16 but without success, following final confirmation from Olympic minister Tessa Jowell and organisers Locog ahead of the start of the recruitment process later this year.

"Locog consults extensively with the voluntary sector around best practice for volunteering in the UK in the development of our volunteering programme," they said, in a statement.

"This has been the case for most Olympic volunteering programmes."

A successful volunteer programme remains at the heart of any successful Olympics, so it seems a tragedy that thousands of highly-engaged and motivated A-Level students will be watching from the sidelines - because of fears over child protection regulations, even though half of St John Ambulance's 43,000 volunteers are under the age of 18.

There is one exception - the ball boys and girls at the Olympic tennis event at Wimbledon. 

So you can get involved, if you want to hand Andy Murray his towel or fetch Serena Williams a Coke.

UPDATED: London 2012 appeared to have softened their position, following pressure from youth groups

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