So that time has arrived. The editor of Soar Community needs to sharpen his pencil and join the ranks of Soar Magazine’s finest to produce a blog. After 36 months as the editor of the Citizens’ Eye Community News Agency and six issues of ‘our’ side of the magazine, it finally feels like the right time to start blogging and I’d like to say a big thanks to Soar Magazine for the opportunity.

I’m planning to run a community media centre at Phoenix Square during both the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012, so that will form the basis of my regular ramblings. So, with just over 700 days to go, let’s get started.

Walking past the BBC Big Screen in Humberstone Gate acts as a constant reminder of the amount of work still to be done. People stop to look at the screen and I see them blankly staring at the top right corner that says only 700 odd days to go until the travelling sports-fest that is the Olympics, the largest media event in the world, rolls into London.

There is still much to do for the preparation of our centres, to be hosted at the Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre. Some people are interested, but others have their eyes set on impending budget cuts or remaining in power in next May’s local elections. Eventually they will look up at the screen and it will say…only 365 days to go and panic will set in. What are we doing or rather what is our city doing for us? We have to be more imaginative for the 2012 Games than putting seats out under the Big Screen.

Loughborough has carved out its own success story by hosting international teams as well as Team GB. The scramble for crumbs from their table could be both ugly and brutal. The public will start to ask what is happening in their area to celebrate the games and nostalgia may set in reminiscing of Silver Jubilee street parties and royal weddings.

The whole time our dedicated band of volunteers will have been building partnerships to ensure that using the finest venue our city has to offer, we can play host to the public to soak up the atmosphere of the games. I’m pleased to be working alongside Steve Humphries – in my mind the man who virtually single handedly brought the Special Olympics to Leicester in 2009. His expertise and passion will mean we succeed and navigate the many minefields we find over the next two years.

I’m proud of the Soar Community partnership that has grown over six issues between the creative media gang at Soar Media and the volunteers of Citizens’ Eye to produce a great read. Soar Community has demonstrated a powerful concept that others can learn from. True partnership working. I come across many people everyday who still think partnership working is ‘you doing what they want because it will help you.’ I find it fascinating that you go to meetings and you only have to mention a phrase and everyone knows whom you’re talking about. Anyway those people will need a nest to sit on when the Games come to the UK so they will need to bring something to the party.

The Citizen Reporters 2012 project I’ve started aims to find 2,012 people who want to become reporters for their local communities across the city and county. This project is in partnership with the Leicester Mercury and a big thank you to their editor, Keith Perch, for his vision and support. In addition to the daily reporting opportunities, it means the training programme can give people the necessary skills to capture their own personal Olympic and Paralympic experience and share it with the community around them.

Our busy schedule of events leading up to the games includes this August’s Sky Ride mass participation cycle ride, where the volunteers get an opportunity to work in the Media Centre I’m running inside the Phoenix. Let’s see how far we can get the Leicester event around the globe.

Loads going on. 700 days sounds like a long time, but according to my statistics widget on Citizens’ Eye, I did the first post on 15th February, 2008. That’s over 880 days ago! The time has flown by so I expect the torch relay to be flashing past my window any day.

If you want to get involved in either community media centres, just drop me an email at editor@citizenseye.org

Until next time,

John Coster Blog in association with: