The Opening Ceremony for the Games will take place tomorrow evening (8.30pm) at the Gateshead International Stadium to mark the official start of the event. Like last year, the ceremony will be hosted by BBC Sports presenter Jill Douglas. In addition to Jill's presence, there will be a number of high profile sporting names on show and a parade of the competing athletes. To round the evening off there will be a spectacular entertainment show, part of the UK School Games cultural programme, which will look to showcase North East England.

Hockey and Volleyball will be the first of the 10 sports to commence this year, both starting tomorrow with the rest to follow on Friday and Saturday. Hockey will get underway at 11.00am at Newcastle University's Longbenton Sports Ground, while Volleyball will hosted from 12.00pm at Northumbria University's Sport Central facility.

Over 1,600 elite school aged athletes will descend upon North East England from the 2 - 5 September. Featuring a packed four-day programme of ten sports taking place at some of the region's premier venues, as well as opening and closing ceremonies, an athletes' village, simulation doping control and elite athlete role models, the Sainsbury's UK School Games replicate a major sporting event such as the Commonwealth Games.

Cycling will join athletics, badminton, fencing, gymnastics, hockey, judo, swimming, table tennis and volleyball, with disability events in swimming, athletics and table tennis, including learning disability for swimming, table tennis and for the first time, athletics.

In 2006, The UK School Games received a £6 million grant from Legacy Trust UK. As an event which fully encompasses sport, education and culture, the UK School Games was one of Legacy Trust UK's first projects. In addition to the Legacy Trust UK, the Sainsbury's UK School Games has a consortium of North East partners who will assist with the staging of the games. These include Gateshead, Newcastle and Sunderland Councils, NewcastleGateshead Initiative who are providing funding support, North East England and Northumbria and Newcastle Universities who are supplying sport facilities and accommodation.