Guests from sport's organisations and businesses in Sheffield and South Yorkshire were brought together by Sheffield City Council who gave an update on the city's progress so far and spoke about the six themes which will be focused on over the next three years.
The event was opened by leader of Sheffield City Council, Councillor Paul Scriven who explained that sport and physical activity should be available to everyone in the city
"Sport is not just about top athletes, it is about everyone that wants to be physically active and our plans have been created with all the people in Sheffield in mind.
"From our businesses and volunteers, right through to activities for the elderly we have made sure that everyone in Sheffield is included in our plans for sport in the lead up to 2012 and beyond."
Sheffield born, Jessica talked about her first hand experience of the high quality sporting infrastructure for athletes in the city. She has been based in Sheffield throughout her career, utilising the sporting facilities such as Don Valley Stadium and the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield.
Jessica explained how the city's sporting expertise has helped her athletics career develop and talked about the support she got from the medical team at the English Institute of Sport after having her hopes of competing in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 dashed following stress fractures in her right foot. Jessica said
"Being in Sheffield is and will always be really important to me - I went to school here and then on to the University of Sheffield. Training in Sheffield is great with the facilities that we have at Don Valley Stadium and the English Institute of Sport - I never want to leave Sheffield!"
Jessica is not the only member of Team GB based in Sheffield, the GB Volleyball team, the GB Diving team, the British Table Tennis Federation and British Amateur Boxing Association have all chosen to base themselves in Sheffield, giving the city, the highest concentration of GB athletes in the Yorkshire region.
Cllr Syliva Dunkley, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Tourism at Sheffield City Council commented
"Having athletes at the top of their sport based in Sheffield, brings a number of benefits. Their work in the community helps to inspire young people to participate in sport and it also means that Sheffield is well placed, due to its facilities, to host events and training camps for international teams which brings economic benefits and also helps to raise the profile of the city around the world."
During the event, Glenn Mauchlen Dobson from Yorkshire Gold Business Club an organisation established by Yorkshire Forward and run by VEN Management Ltd explained about the large number of contracts that are available for Yorkshire businesses as a direct result of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as other major projects including the Commonwealth Games, Leeds Bradford Airport and Transport for London upgrades.
Guests also heard from Holly Hodgkinson, a member of the Sheffield Academy of Young Leaders in Sport who hopes to become a volunteer during London 2012 and dance group 'Spilt Milk' who performed 'The Twist'.