大象传媒

London was on the back of one of the most ambitious promises in Olympic bidding history - inspiring children across the world to take up sport.

But nearly three years on, the government has yet to come up with a specific plan to make this happen in Britain, never mind in the rest of the planet.

That was one of the main talking points among delegates at the recent annual conference of the , the national body which represents grass roots sport.

CCPR chief executive , the former England cricket supremo, told me it was crucial that the government comes up with new cash to support pilot schemes across the UK aimed at increasing participation.

"The time really is now for this legacy plan, " he said. "2012 is a lot more than just winning medals. The true legacy should be about increasing participation. We have to have schemes supported by realistic budgets. It can't be just reworked programmes that people have talked about in the past."

The rumour is that Olympics minister Tessa Jowell will unveil the "Olympic Legacy" plan in the next few weeks.

Despite being later than originally announced, there is little confidence that the plan is going to contain a lot of detail.

Grass roots sport has already lost millions of pounds in National Lottery funding because of the Olympics. There are serious concerns that they will not get any cash for any new initiatives.

I'm reminded of crucial advice from Michael Payne, the former International Olympic Committee marketing director.

He told me: "To get real benefit of the Games, you have to spend extra money around the edges of your plans - grass-roots sports, tourism etc. If you don't do that, you risk missing out on the real impact of the Games."