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The Local Government Challenge is a competition to find local government's future top executives.The 10 contestants must undertake five challenges, and the top four will face an on-stage grilling at the LGA Annual Conference. Claire Holloway describes the Surrey challenge. The second leg of the Local Government Challenge saw our two teams – the Red Stripes and the Anarchic Stars – travelling to leafy Surrey to face a very different challenge from that set for them last month by Coventry City Council. The Edge Community Sports Centre in Haslemere, complete with its own Olympic torch, provided the location for Waverley BC chief executive, Mary Orton, to deliver the challenge. In less than 24 hours, both teams had to produce a DVD to market the Edge as a pre-Olympic Games training camp to paralympic teams from around the world, and design an event which would give local people lasting benefits from the 2012 Games. Kitted out in team sweatshirts, and each equipped with a technical expert from Websedge TV and a leading local expert on the 2012 Games, the two teams set about their task. In the blue corner, the Anarchic Stars, putting rather more emphasis on the planning than the doing, and in the red corner, the Red Stripes going for more of a ‘let's dive in at the deep end' approach. Also on hand to help were a sports hall full of ‘Whizz kids', a marketplace of local sports enthusiasts – voluntary, professional and elected – and the centre's resident Beijing paralympic gold medallist, Rachel Morris. The teams had all the raw materials they needed. The question was, how would they use them? It was a long and tough day, and at times, it looked as though neither team would make the elite squad. Despite the early efforts of team leader Rachel, the Blues once again seemed intent on creating by committee, while the Reds, under the leadership of Rosalind, missed an opportunity to talk to local people about their 2012 legacy hopes. With the clock ticking, both teams learned fast that DVD-making takes not only creative ideas and enthusiasm, but also skill, patience and a lot of time. Tempers frayed but they stayed the course, and at 6pm, after almost eight hours of interviews, filming, cutting and editing, videologists Jamie and Alex retired to apply the finishing touches. Back at Haslemere's Georgian Hotel, with only the briefest break for dinner, the teams continued preparing their presentations late into the evening, and were up again to begin rehearsals at 7.30am. The final presentations were made to our panel of judges – Waverley BC chief executive, Mary Orton; Nick Chilton, chair of the Active Waverley Forum; and the LGA's own chief executive, John Ransford – and a distinguished audience of leading local sports enthusiasts and community representatives, among them, the mayor of Waverley, chairman of Surrey CC and portfolio-holders from both authorities. The Anarchic Stars won the toss and kicked-off with a DVD which looked hard to beat, and its members' vision of a 2012 Haslemere festival of sport and culture, to take place exactly one year before the main games. The Red Stripes followed with a not dissimilar proposal – but its members' exhaustive research and attention to detail paid off in the end. Both teams faced a barrage of tough questions. The Red Stripes members showed they really knew their stuff – and in the end, the Blues showed themselves to be big on ideas but with a lack of evidence. The judges were unanimous and the audience agreed –the Red Stripes got the gold and levelled the series. The Waverley-Surrey challenge was more than just a leg in the competition – it was a real taste of what the 2012 Games can deliver for local communities working in partnership with their local authorities. We sincerely hope that the winning DVD will now attract international paralympians to Haslemere, because this challenge showed that when it comes to hard work, enthusiasm and a warm welcome, this small centre in Surrey really does have the Edge over its rivals. The Local Government Challenge is co-ordinated by the LGA Group and sponsored by Liberata. The Institute of Leadership Management (ILM) sponsored the Waverley Challenge. For more information, contact Adam Pokun, Local Government Challenge project manager, LGA.Telephone: 020 7664 3048. Claire Holloway is project director of the Local Government Challenge at the LGA.

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WHITEHALL

A challenge of Olympic proportions

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