It seems so recently that we were embarking on that fabulous summer four years ago – the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the London 2012 Olympics. It was an amazing year of success, unity and plain simple fun and for a spell we forgot about the problems facing us.

This week, we are just about to start the Rio 2016, this year’s Olympic Games. I am delighted that yet again, we have people from Wyre Forest competing in those games. This year we have Alison Young competing in the Laser Radial class sailing and Naomi Folkard competing in the archery. I remember them both at 2012. Whilst sitting in a TV studio waiting to do a live interview on something or other, Alison Young was interviewed in the piece before me. “That’s my constituent!” I told the producer. “That’s nice,” the producer replied. “Can we get back to talking about the budget please.” I also watched the archery and was as dismayed as she must have been when Naomi’s last arrow was caught by the wind, denying her a place on the winner’s podium.

Having two local Olympiads is a fantastic thing, but they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sporting achievement of our youth. Wyre Forest boasts canoeists, indoor volleyballers, racing drivers, tai quan dao specialists and a whole host of other sporting success stories. Sports clubs across the district are working hard to bring on more talent and the opportunities for local kids is enormous. All the facilities are run by volunteers and I am invited to visit them from time to time. A year or two back, I set out to organise an exhibition of all the facilities in Wyre Forest that were open to occupy children during the summer. All the clubs we approached were supportive, but they couldn’t spare the time to exhibit as they had fully committed weekends training future sportsmen and women.

From time to time I get people of an older generation telling me that kids today aren’t like they used to be. I agree. They have proved to be more successful in the Olympics than their forebears; they drink less; they don’t smoke as much; they embrace new technology in a creative and imaginative way; and they take responsibility seriously. The more kids I meet, the more optimistic I am for the future.