£36 million Olympic Overspend will cost Welsh charities dear

4.40.00pm GMT Thu 15th Feb 2007

Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport Eleanor Burnham has today responded to the news that in a letter to UK Culture Minister Tessa Jowell, Welsh Culture and Sport Minister Alun Pugh has predicted that Wales could lose between £24m and £36m due to the current 2012 Olympics overspend.

Ms Burnham said: "It's no secret that here in Wales we have always had a severe lack of funding for basic services, let alone our cultural and sporting causes.

"The estimated £24 - £36 million pounds that could now be lost to our Welsh charities and distributors is devastating on top of our already stretched national resources.

"I am of course pleased that high-level Welsh sport will get a boost from the London 2012 Olympics, but this is a high price to pay for the use of our facilities and training grounds.

"Lottery funding is one of the principle ways in which many of our grassroot sport and activity coaching in Wales survives. If the UK government can't find alternative ways to deal with the Olympic overspend, I fear that attempts to get Welsh people involved in physical sport and activity, through locally based schemes like our Football Academies, will suffer."

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