91Èȱ¬

He was absolutely right. After years of scepticism during the campaign, we saw real public enthusiasm for the event when it came to the final week before the International Olympic Committee decision in July 2005.

And , many people enjoyed the party.

A 91Èȱ¬ London poll is showing the same kind of trend with two years to go before the opening ceremony.

I spend my days highlighting the challenges of the Olympics and the public is more aware now that the Games won't be easy for London.

But what is interesting is that our Ipsos Mori poll of 1,000 Londoners shows increasing support for the Olympics in the last four years from 69% to 73%.

In fact 30% of people are more positive about the Games than they were when London won the bid.

Many see transport as the biggest headache with more than half of the people thinking the city's transport system will not cope well with the hundreds of thousands of extra passengers every day.

But the most striking result for me is that, despite the £9.3 billion price tag and the Governments cuts we are living through, most people don't want to see less money being spend on the Games. In fact 13% want more cash thrown at the Olympics.

It's almost as though they want the Games to be special, treasured and protected from these days of austerity -- an Olympic oasis.

What do you think?

The idea was at the heart of London 2012's Cultural Olympiad plans. It was hoped that when the Olympic Friend-ship returned to England it would "formally proclaim the renaissance of east London".

The idea was quietly shelved, of course. Not surprising really. I'm not sure existentialists make good sailors. Thinking about the human condition for too long at sea is probably not good for your mental and physical health.

Most of us have struggled since to is all about. I understand the sponsors, who are paying for most of it, have demanded a lot more clarity in the last year as well.

Well, finally, we are getting it. I was at a fascinating exhibition of Olympic photographs at the this week. Not of Olympic action but of the people who have played a key role in building the facilities in London. They also have unusual shots of some of the top young competitors in 2012.

I'm pleased to have played a minor role in helping it happen. Organisers consulted me on whom they should photograph and I'm pleased they went for some of the top engineers and architects - and some of London 2012's lesser-known faces - as well as the high-profile politicians involved.

And I've also been talking to , the chief executive of the Royal Opera House who is the chairman of the board organising the Cultural Olympiad.

He says people will understand the Olympiad when they see the details of the special festival being organised around the Games in the summer of 2012. Expect more details about this in the autumn.

But do we really need a Cultural Olympiad?

And, if we do organise one, it's crucial that it is something which changes the lives of youngsters in east London and around the country as well as entertaining regulars on London's South Bank.

What do you think should be in our Cultural Olympiad?

You can follow 91Èȱ¬ London's Olympic stories on Twitter @91Èȱ¬Ldn_Olympics

Former Olympics Minister has been offered a place at London 2012's top table - a place on the Olympic board running the Games.

I've learned that Jowell, who played a crucial job in persuading the Labour Government to bid for the Games seven years ago, will sit alongside Conservative Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson, London Mayor Boris Johnson and 2012 chairman Lord Coe at key meetings.

It's a surprise move for the to give the London MP, who is still the shadow Olympics spokesman, such a high-profile role.

Jowell was expected to be given some sort of ambassadorial role promoting the Games and the legacy of the Games worldwide.

But she will now sit at the heart of the handful of people making the key decisions about the Games.

This makes sense in terms of her experience but politicially, it will effectively stop the coalition Government from taking full credit for the success of the Olympics in 2012.

It's therefore a brave initiative from . Both should take credit for trying to take the politics out of the Games and make it an event which will unite the country and the political world.

I'm not sure Boris Johnson is going to be dancing in the streets about the decision, however.

Remember Jowell as the campaign manager of his rival Ken Livingstone in the last London Mayoral elections.

We often ate meals together and I got to know quite a few of the volunteers personally during the Games. For the first time I understood what excitement volunteers can have about being part of the Olympics.

I remember vividly dropping one of them off at a railway station at the end of the Games, a young French P.E. teacher called Christine. I carried her bags to the platform and Christine promptly burst into tears.

"Why are you crying?" I asked her. "Because the Olympics are over, " she replied. "And I've enjoyed it so much."

I was struck by the emotion that many of the French volunteers had in Albertville and, as a result, I've have a huge amount of respect for volunteers at the 10 Olympics I've been to since.

Without them, the Olympics don't function. Unlike me, they are not being paid to work at the Games. Yet, they set the tone for the Games because they will help competitors, officials and spectators from around the world.

have now launched their volunteer recruitment programme. If you want to be part of it, go to their .

I was at the launch at the Olympic Park when singer Alesha Dixon posed for photographs to promote the scheme.

I'm not sure London 2012 have got their PR right here. McDonalds are involved in the process and that means their restaurants will be full of information on volunteering and the company will be doing a lot of training.

Like Alesha, that will help 2012 get their message over to a younger audience.

But actually the best volunteers I have come across at Olympics are over over 50 or over 60. In 2000, for example. Sydney used a lot of silver-haired ladies to direct people around the Olympic Park and they were brilliant.

People respect the Saga generation and they are also much better at handling stressed media or spectators because they have more experience in life.

So, 2012, next time you promote volunteering, please roll out a celebrity over 60. How about David Jason, Roger Moore, Helen Mirren, Terry Wogan or Michael Parkinson?

2012 isn't just for the youth of the world.

2012 have set up a show apartment in the athletes village and I joined the on a tour.

It didn't take long. An estate agent would call the three-bedroom flats "cosy". I'd call them compact.

Three bedrooms for six athletes, two small bathrooms and a small living room. Probably okay for a few weeks for six female Australian gymnasts but space will be tight for a handful of Bulgarian shot-putters.

But what really matters is that the village is at the heart of the which is rare for the Games. That means many competitors will be just a couple of minute's ride away from the venues, rather than a coach trip across the city.

During the bid, 2012 published sketches of athletes standing at their bedroom windows with a view of the main stadium. Some of the flats will have that but the reality is that most will look over the new Westfield shopping centre and its car park, hardly the most inspiring of views.

When the Games are over, these flats will be turned into 2,800 homes for Londoners, nearly half of them "affordable" homes.

Would l live there? Well, they should be plenty of green space in the Park when the Games are over so the views will be better. I also think these appartment blocks will be perfect for people heading into retirement.

You've got a major shopping centre over the road, a swimming pool nearby and a huge park to walk in every day. When you are heading towards 70 or 80 and maybe worry about driving a car, you'd have everything on your doorstep and still be within a short distance of central London by public transport.

These flats won't be on the market unil late 2011 and people will not be able to move in until 2014 when the Park and the blocks have been redesigned.

The has a huge challenge in making the whole environment an attractive place to live after the Games.

Please take a look at my report and tell me what you think.

But let's take a reality check: the company responsible for doing all the financial deals to make all of this happen is simply not being given the tools to do the job.

I have been talking to Baroness Ford, the head of the , which was set up more than a year ago.

I've known her for some time now. She's an experienced and tough businesswoman who rescued the Dome from financial disaster and has huge amounts of energy and enthusiasm for her Olympic role.

But when I talked to her this week, she was just angry and frustrated about the future of the Olympic Park.

The problem is that the last Government promised to hand over ownership of the Olympic Park to the OPLC, debt-free, so that it could do the financial deals to sell or rent out the venues to the private sector after 2012.

It's a pretty fundamental action to take. Would you be able to sell your house if you didn't have ownership of it or possess the deeds? No chance.

But the new coalition Government has now put that decision on ice, while the Treasury reviews financial decisions taken by Labour.

So the OPLC is trying to negotiate with companies about taking over the Park but it's unable to tell them that it has ownership of it.

The danger is that many of these companies will walk away because of all these complications. There are plenty of other projects to invest in in London at the moment and they are cheaper because of the recession.

Ford believes the problem has to be solved by the end of the this month when parliament goes on holiday. She fears, if it's not sorted out by then, it may never get sorted out.

I get the feeling, that after spending a year working the market hard, she is running out of patience with all this.

She told me she wasn't thinking of resigning but I wouldn't be surprised to see her walk away from the project if she is not allowed to do it properly.

And who would blame her?

She's been given the toughest job of all. Olympics in the past have been left with white elephants. Look at which I have reported on before.

The experience from Athens is that you cannot wait until after the Games to do these financial deals. They need to be done in the next two years when the magic around the Games is there. Once the Games are over, it's much harder.

Ford keeps telling the Government this but nobody seems to be listening at the moment.