A scheme to use the Olympics to inspire people to volunteer to do unpaid work in their community has been scrapped by ministers.
Millions of Britons were urged to take part in the "25th Hour" project. Two thousand of those volunteers who helped out the most were to be offered free tickets to attend the rehearsal of the opening ceremony in the stadium.
But ministers at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have axed the scheme, the idea of former
Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, because they considered it lacking in focus and too expensive.
Projects such as clearing local parks and repairing public buildings were among the charitable acts encouraged under the scheme which borrows heavily from David Cameron's Big Society ethos. Launched last June, it was run in conjunction with the Young Volunteers Service and was officially recognised by London 2012 and backed by the major sports federations.
A DCMS spokeswoman said: "After careful consideration, the Government has decided not to continue the 25th Hour Programme.
"Instead, the focus will be on getting more people involved in sport as volunteers and coaches."
Today the first 100,000 interviews began for 70,000 volunteers at the Games themselves. Roles include ticket inspectors, car park attendants and drivers.
