Newcastle wants the Cubans, Birmingham is wooing the Americans, Bristol has made overtures to the Kenyans and an unassuming part of Manchester is talking up its links with the Ukraine.

Such is the rush to get involved in the 2012 Olympics, communities across Britain are selling themselves to visiting nations as possible sites for pre-Games training camps.

Authorities throughout the UK are desperate to be included in a “venue guide” being distributed by London Games organisers to more than 200 countries after the Olympics in Beijing this summer. Places in the guide, finalised today, are highly coveted. More than 800 applications have been received from areas keen to cash in on the economic and cultural benefits.

The big-spending US athletics team, which Birmingham has secured, is a highly prized scalp as are China and Russia.

But it is the smaller Olympic nations that will need the guidance on where to stay. Because of their shared backgrounds in the trawler industry, the Danes would find themselves welcome in Grimsby, while Somalis may go to Cardiff where Somali sailors once settled.

Pre-Games training camps were introduced in Atlanta in 1996 to help poorer athletes from African nations. The programme was extended at the Sydney Games in 2000, with the British team choosing the Gold Coast as its base.

The London Olympic Organising Committee has a £9 million budget to lure teams, offering grants of up to £25,000. But the guide is only a recommendation. The Australians - a top Olympic nation - have already chosen to set up their training camp in Italy.

Discussions involving some British cities are already well advanced. Glenn McCrory, who runs a boxing school in Newcastle, hopes to secure the Cuban boxing team which won six gold medals in Athens. “For the youngsters in our area to be around guys who have less than them but are still winning gold medals would bring them hope,” he said.

The 200-strong Ukraine team could end up in Leigh, in Greater Manchester, after Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary and local MP, went to Kiev to offer free use of a £83 million sports village.

The town is already home to Ukrainians who fled Stalinist Russia after the war and worked in coal mines.

“Thousands of people would watch them train,” Mr Burnham said. “People have yet to fully understand the power of the Olympics in areas as remote from London as we are.”

The Kenyans are coming to Bristol. Bob Reeves, director of sport and health at Bristol University, said: “The legacy of infrastructure from the Games is only going to be in London but this could be a fantastic wider engagement.”

Danny Sriskandarajah, head of migration at the Institute of Public Policy Research, said: “People can experience the buzz around the Games and buy into their own bit of Olympic magic.”

To qualify for the guide, the 500 selected venues will need to offer a secure environment, the minimum of a 50-metre swimming pool, sports science services, a hospital, good catering, accommodation and transport links. “Getting athletes from another country will provide an added dimension to the Games. What we don’t want is for everyone to watch it on TV and not be part of it,” Judith Rasmus-sen, of Sport England, said.

Home from home?

Danes in Grimsby — Danish trawlers historically came to the port on the Humber to land fish, and local girls.

Somalis in Cardiff — African sailors were drawn to work in Cardiff’s docks after the opening of the Suez canal in the late 19th century.

Italians in Nottingham — A sizeable Italian community was lured to the city by Roman Catholic missionaries.

Portuguese in Thetford — About 20,000 Portuguese-speaking migrant workers have settled in Norfolk.

Germans in Colchester — Army towns such as Colchester and Aldershot - and areas like Wiltshire and North Yorkshire - have a combined population of 12,000 German-born residents, many of whom who have been drawn to the UK through links to the military. The Great Britain team has already chosen to be based in Aldershot.

Source: Born Abroad, IPPR, Times database