A former international tennis star and current Chair of Sport England for the South East Regional Sports Board, McAnally’s main message from the presentation was that the Olympics are posed to bring sporting, economic and social benefits to the city.

Within the Southampton and Eastleigh regions many sites have been selected as training camps for the London 2012. The Rose Bowl is one of the main locations for teams competing in the archery event, and the Quay Eddie Read Swimming and Diving Complex is an official training site for diving. The University is also set to play a major part in training sites. The Jubilee Sports Centre is to be used as a practise facility for badminton, basketball, judo, volleyball and wrestling in the Olympic sports and for archery, judo, sailing, volleyball, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby in the Paralympics. In addition the University Boat Hard has been picked as a training site for sailing. The dedication of so many local sporting facilities will see an increase in the number of talented sporting athletes in the area preparing for the event, which is hoped to have a positive affect on the number of young people participating in sport.

To guarantee the sporting benefits, McAnally emphasised the need for improvements to citizenship and volunteering, particularly in areas relating to the Paralympics. It is hoped that major companies in the nearby area will act as role models and lead the way to achieving this. A total of 700 adults and 900 young people are needed to volunteer to ensure the games run smoothly, and Screen South is currently responsible for managing this process.

Economically firms across Hampshire are leading the race for Olympic business, which is believed to be worth up to £6 billion. Currently 16 county firms have attained contracts to prepare for the games, such as solicitors firms and IT suppliers. Although none of the businesses have been named, it is known that Southampton based mapping giant Ordnance Survey is one. On a more general basis across the South-East region more than 130 traceable contracts have been awarded at the games. This is partly down to the website CompeteFor, which is home to almost all contracts associated with the games offering a whole range from safety glasses to website design.

Socially it is hoped that there will be a specific emphasis on the city. It is anticipated that local festivals, events and attractions such as the Southampton Maritime Museum will be promoted effectively, thus generating tourism in the area. Furthermore McAnally hopes the city will take advantage of the cultural tie in with the London 2012 Games. It is predicted that the London 2012 Olympics could generate £1 billion in tourism, however before Southampton can benefit from this, awareness about the city needs to be developed along with a positive image. This would enable the city to gain from pre and post game activity. The docks need to be cleaned up and local attractions need to be promoted.