WITH Olympicmania gripping the county, the London Olympics have certainly surpassed expectations, from the Torch relay to the spectacular opening ceremony and now of course the competition itself.

Every point has had its memorable, emotional and for the athlete’s life-changing moments and the games really do live up to the tagline “Inspire a Generation”.

Wales will be home to medallists from these games and they are quite rightly held up as superb examples to the nation for their achievements.

All athletes make massive sacrifices to achieve their goals. We should be rightly proud of their achievements and use them to demonstrate that if you want something enough and are willing to work hard enough then anything is possible. And it pays off – when athletes win for their country they are transformed into heroes.

On the subject of heroes, last week I had the privilege to attend the re-opening of the impressive naval temple on the Kymin hill above Monmouth. The Temple was built from money raised through public subscription in 1801 to commemorate 16 Royal Naval Admirals who had been victorious in sea battles around the world when Britain ruled the waves.

Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson visited the site a year after its opening and described it as “one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen”. It certainly still is.

Lord Nelson died a few years later during the Battle of Trafalgar which is still seen as one of Britain’s greatest naval triumphs.

A number of groups including, appropriately, one of his local descendents Mrs Anna Tribe have raised the money to renovate the Naval Memorial which had fallen into a sad state of disrepair.

So what may you ask links the Olympics and the Naval Temple?

National service, not just military service but service in general.

On Tuesday I accompanied the Prime Minister David Cameron on a visit to the Outdoor Education Centre at Gilwern to promote the National Citizens’ Service which has been a huge success in England.

The young people were inspiring, enthusiastic and ambitious but sadly, not a single one was from Wales. Why? Because the Welsh Government has not backed the scheme – that can’t be right.

Let’s put it right. Let’s build on the Olympic success of these golden weeks and inspire a Welsh Generation. Let’s create a Wales Citizens’ Service