Young people from Greenwich will no longer be able to represent their borough in the London Youth Games after the council pulled out because of staff cuts.
Greenwich, which was a host borough during the 2012 Olympics, will be the only one not represented at the finals next July.
The council withdrew some administrative support from the event two years ago, which volunteers say saved the council £50,000 and meant the borough would still field a team.
One volunteer told The Greenwich Wire that pulling out all together would save £7,000, but the council said it was a consequence of funding cuts that had led it to reduce its sports development team two years ago.
The decision by the Labour-run council, which brands itself “Royal Greenwich”, comes as the multisport event prepares to celebrate 50 years since it was founded to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s silver jubilee.
Past London Youth Games participants include the athletes Dina Asher-Smith, Steve Backley, Mo Farah and Daryll Neita, and the Olympic gold-medal triathlete Alex Yee.
Athletes representing Greenwich have included Tosin Oki, the Commonwealth triple-jump gold medallist, Gemma Gibbons, the Olympic and Commonwealth silver medallist in judo, and Paul Johnson, a three-time Commonwealth medallist in squash.
News of the cut has also emerged as pay rises for councillors, totalling up to £800,000 per year, are on the agenda for a council meeting next week. The borough’s 55 councillors could see their allowances hiked by 41.8 per cent.
Steven Cummins, who manages Greenwich’s cross-country team, said he found out after Games organisers rang him with the news last week. A petition has been set up to ask the council to reverse the decision.
“Hundreds of volunteers devote hours of their time for free to youth sport across the borough,” he said. “Seven thousand pounds seems a small price to pay for that goodwill.
“There is now no route that young people in Greenwich have to represent their borough and wider community in organised sport across London.”
Katie Berry, the chief executive of the London Youth Games, told The Greenwich Wire that she was “deeply disappointed” by Greenwich’s decision.
“We have had the privilege of making a positive difference to the lives of more than two million young Londoners across all 33 boroughs of the capital, and we want young people in Greenwich to remain part of that story,” she said.
“The timing of this decision, so close to the first event of the season, is particularly difficult for the young people affected.”
Events building up to next year’s finals were already beginning, Berry said, and some young people from Greenwich had been reallocated to other boroughs because they went to school there, but others would have to miss out.
“We remain hopeful that ongoing discussions with Greenwich will lead to a positive outcome and a reversal of its decision,” she said. “We would warmly welcome Greenwich’s continued involvement, ensuring its young people can share in the opportunities offered by the Games in our 50th year and beyond.
“I would like to thank all our borough members for their continued support in making the Games a truly London-wide event for young people across the capital. We sincerely hope Greenwich will join them in supporting the Games into the future.”
A Greenwich Council spokesperson said that withdrawing from the Games was not about money, but staff capacity, and dismissed a link between that and the proposed rise in councillor allowances.
““We know how much the London Youth Games has meant to young people in Greenwich,” he said. “We’re hugely grateful to the volunteers who kept our teams going last year.
“This decision is not about the entry fee. Entering a borough team means the council taking responsibility for safeguarding, DBS checks, team managers, and a season that runs from November to July.
“After years of financial pressure, rising demand and inflation, we had to reduce our sports development team in 2024/25. Without it, we do not have the capacity to meet those responsibilities. We have therefore made the difficult decision not to take part in the 2026/27 season.
“However, young people can still take part through the School Games programme in their schools, and we encourage every school to get involved.”
Two years ago Greenwich decided to sell its Olympic legacy equestrian centre in Shooters Hill, which was built using materials from the course in Greenwich Park and opened in 2013. The Army has since been in talks about taking over the site, although it is not clear how far those talks have progressed.
Amended to correct an error: the 2027 finals will not be held at the Olympic Park as in previous years, but at Redbridge Sports Centre in Barkingside.
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