A CAMPAIGN aimed at helping North-East youngsters achieve their sporting dreams has been banned by lawyers acting on behalf of the Olympic movement.
The Olympic Dream campaign was to be launched by The Northern Echo to raise vital funds for talented youngsters through the UK's leading sports charity Sports Aid.
The paper had won national support for the initiative by persuading the Newspaper Society to adopt the campaign and encourage local newspapers throughout the country to raise money for grassroots sport.
But the idea has had to be scrapped because of a number of draconian measures introduced by the recent Olympic Bill.
Last night, a North-East MP began moves in Westminster to overturn the "ludicrous" ruling.
Kevan Jones, Labour MP for Durham North, is to ask Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell to re-examine the Olympic Bill after The Northern Echo alerted him to a legal problem that is stopping organisations across Britain from supporting the next generation of sporting stars.
The Echo's campaign was planned to run for the next six years in the build-up to the London Olympics.
The proposal was to identify talented youngsters in the region and, in association with Sports Aid, promote their achievements in an attempt to secure funding for their training and development.
But when the 2012 Organising Committee was approached for its support, a spokesman issued a warning that the newspaper would be breaking the law if it used:
* The Olympic symbol
* The London 2012 logo
* The team GB logo
* Or even the words Olym-pic, Olympiad or Olympian as part of its campaign.
"This is clearly ludicrous," said Mr Jones, who will table a written question to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and a Parliamentary motion on the issue when MPs return after the Whitsun recess.
"One of the many aims of the Olympics is to encourage children and community involvement in sport. This is something myself and other MPs should campaign to change."
Mr Jones's efforts have the support of Sports Aid chief executive Tim Lawler.
The Olympic Dream campaign would have promoted the work of Sports Aid in the North-East, and Mr Lawler feels the negative reaction of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) has "very worrying" consequences for the future of British sport.
"This is something that is starting to crop up across the country as the inevitable interest in all things sporting grows towards 2012," he said.
"At this early stage it perhaps highlights the challenge in matching the appetite to support British sport with the conditions by which this must happen.
"The campaign proposed by The Northern Echo - where they would have driven a wider awareness of how people in the North-East can help local, talented young sportsmen and women - is a great example of how this message could have been delivered.
"We recognise and support Locog's need to protect its commercial rights and we know how the rules work, so we are and will remain committed to working with them.
"At this crucial time, though, to help meet the growing demand for some sort of involvement in helping British sport, it is important that initiatives like The Northern Echo's, delivered in the right manner, aren't lost."
When London was awarded the Olympic Games last July, Lord Coe, the chairman of the bidding committee, promised the International Olympic Committee that a London Games would help British youngsters take up sport. Speaking at the final presentation in Singapore, he said: "Today's challenge is tough. It's complex.
"We can no longer take it for granted that young people will choose sport. Some may lack the facilities, or the coaches and role models to teach them.
"We are determined that a London Games will address that."
Even Gateshead-born Jonathan Edwards, an Olympic gold medallist and member of Locog, admitted the regulations were having unfortunate consequences.
He said: "If a big sponsor is going to give £100m to run a programme to support the Olympics, they are going to demand that other people are not allowed to do a similar thing for free."
A spokesman for London 2012 said: "We need to protect our commercial rights. At this moment in time, nobody is being allowed to use the Olmypic rings or the London 2012 logo that are listed in the Olympics Bill.
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