Will poor people be involved/have tickets for the London Olympics?

[belleMarie]

Stratford is in Newham - one of the most deprived borough in London. No one that I know who lives there/ works there, have tickets or are participating in the celebrations. They can't afford to.

Why is there no uproar? so many Newham/East London kids will not be a part of something that will be happening in their own doorstep.

I'm pretty skint and have tickets (not fancy expensive ones). I saved up as i thought it worth doing.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-18782739

Young Scots have a chance to apply for 50,000 free tickets for eight Olympic football matches at Hampden.

The tickets will go to sports clubs, charities and youth projects via the London 2012 Ticketshare scheme, which is funded through hospitality packages.

probably because they can't sell them and don't want an empty stadium

Sorry...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-18782739

We have £10 paralympic tickets.

If you chose carefully it's not all ludicrously expensive.

We have tickets for 3 different events, including tickets, travel and food we expect it to cost around £200 for 2 adults which we have saved for because we thought it was worth it.

What do you suggest, bellMarie? That locals be offered discounted tickets? Would that be fair on families who have to travel from the other side of the country and pay full price?

There are loads of cheap paralympics tickets left. We just got some for £10 each for adults and £5 for children which doesn't seem too bad.

kids from Newham schools are taking part in the opening and closing ceremonies.

I don't think £10 for a full day's sport (12 hours if we want) is horrendously expensive for such an occasion.
My travel will add up to a lot on top of the ticket price, but it won't if you are local will it?

My county council has paid for tickets for around 600 kids in care to go to the Olympic event locally. Mind you, they've also spent thousands on tickets to opening and closing ceremonies for council VIPs.

Weren't they only available online and to those with a Visa card though? That in itself would stop the poorest people being able to even apply for tickets.

There are events all over the Olympic boroughs. Free sports taster sessions. Big Screens in Victoria Park and elsewhere. The Hackney One Festival.

There were free tickets to test events

It didn't have to be a visa credit card, we used our visa debit card to buy tickets.

Poor people have cashcards, not debit or credit cards.

Aren't there a lot of events which you only pay the age of the child for their ticket too which keeps it much more accessible if local

As has been said, kids from Newham and other surrounding areas are being given the chance to take part in the ceremony.

I live 10 mins from the Stadium by train (not in Newham) and I know lots of people with tickets.

I find this thread a bit strange really and quite patronising.

Just because Newham is (one of many) deprived areas surrounding the Stadium, do you think the residents should get cheaper tickets?

What about the many, many people in Newham who are not actually poor?

Children from local schools in Hackney are taking part in opening ceremony as well.

I wasn't aware that there was a difference between cash and debit cards, but fair enough if that's the case!

The poor are excluded from many things - overpriced sporting events are the least of their problem.

I live in Newham and could perfectly well afford tickets, thanks . I don't know anyone who's not going for that reason. Several (like us) applied for tickets but didn't get any, but that's the same for people all over the country, I guess.

OP how many people do you actually know from Newham and do you actually know the reasons why they don't have tickets?

Do you not know any business men/women there?

Do you not know anyone with a job there?

You're making it sound as though everyone in Newham is actually poor, just because statistically it's a poor Borough.

I teach in a London school in a poor area. We've been given loads for free.

My DS's school have been given 20 free tickets to the Para Olympics to raffle

Not many poor people who support our National Sport in Tottenham get to watch their team play at White Hart Lane

Poor people don't have debit cards!? What a load of bollocks!

Sorry op, i know lots of people in stratford and surrounding areas who have tickets. I live quite near there.

I am pretty poor at the moment and we have bought very cheap tickets. Have had to sacrifice other things but didn't want to miss the experience.

And not everyone who lives there is poor! Not by any means! Some parts are quite up and coming and trendy now.

This is a thread based on nothing but vague statistics.

Yes poopoo many poor people, cannot have a debit card. Many bank accounts require evidence to open that many poor people cannot provide (for e.g how do you provide a proof of address if you have no permanent address)

You can also get into debt on a debit card as it takes a while for payments to be processed.

Some banks will do a really basic account for people in these situations, but they will get a cashcard which only enables them to get money from an ATM.