Multidisciplinary design and project management practice Pick Everard is working with Sport England to boost community activities at grassroots level in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and help meet Olympic legacy goals.

Pick Everard has been appointed to provide procurement support to Sport England's Places People Play programme, a £135m, mass participation initiative aiming to inspire a new generation into sport, with National Lottery funding. The practice will work with Sport England staff to help capture the future needs of over 40 different sports.  

Sport England is aiming to get one million people enjoying sport by 2012/13. Pick Everard's role in Places People Play involves setting up a number of national framework agreements for the appointment of specialist contractors to deliver sports improvement projects. The result will be the transformation of a wide range of sports venues, bringing the benefits of London 2012 to thousands of participants across the country. Rod Burton, Pick Everard Partner explains, "We're delighted to have been appointed by Sport England. The aim is to get the new framework agreements in place by the summer. Staff from our London, Leicester and Taunton offices with relevant specialist expertise will be involved to develop appropriate agreements."

Clubs, community and voluntary sector groups and councils can apply for awards to modernise, extend, or modify their sports facilities, opening up new opportunities for participants. Organisations may be seeking clubhouse modernisation, new equipment, facilities for disabled users, installation of all-weather courts, new indoor and outdoor surfaces, outdoor lighting or innovative solutions like modular changing rooms and environmental improvements, such as rainwater harvesting, or ground source heat pumps.

Pick Everard will also be available to support the process to ensure that specialists appointed deliver the best value for money and high quality workmanship. Pick Everard is a longstanding, key partner with Sport England, supporting the delivery of projects for a wide range of sporting organisations, including clubs, community groups, local authorities, schools, colleges and universities. 

Pick Everard is also working with Sport England on other projects at the prestigious National Sports Centres at Bisham Abbey, Buckinghamshire and Lilleshall, Shropshire which provide state-of-the art, world class facilities for Team GB athletes training for London 2012.