Keith Mills, deputy chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) has outlined a schedule of milestone activities in the run-up to the 2012 Games.

The schedule of events includes dates for the sale of tickets, the launch of the London 2012 Volunteers programme and the London 2012 Sponsorships and Marketing Programme, which will begin later this year.

The full list of the milestones includes: 2006 – the launch of the marketing and sponsorship plan and launch of London 2012 logo and brand; 2007 – venue overlay specifications; 2008 – Beijing closing ceremony handover to LOCOG officials; 2010 – volunteer recruitment programme launched; 2011 – Olympic Games tickets go on sale and 2012 – testing of events and venues ahead of the Games, which take place between 27 July - 9 August.

Mills added that a key focus for LOCOG in 2006 would be starting to raise the sponsorship funds necessary for its operating budget.

“The LOCOG sponsorship and marketing programme will be crucial to delivering the Games in London and the bulk of the committee’s finance – around £2bn – needs to be raised from the private sector,” he said.

“Of this £2bn, around 35 per cent will be raised from commercial sponsorship here in the UK. The remainder will come from LOCOG’s share of the IOC broadcasting and sponsorship revenues and from merchandising and ticket sales.”

According to LOCOG figures, the 2012 Volunteers Programme will need around 70,000 people to participate in the Games – the biggest peace-time event ever staged in the UK.