About 50 pupils from Redlands School were gathered together, wearing the Flame Hats they had just made and shaking their Flame Shakers. The occasion? A press call to announce the street level route of the Olympic Torch Relay, to introduce some of the Torchbearers, and to showcase the Torchbearer uniform.
It was quite a moment. Never before has the entire route of the Torch Relay been announced so far out from the event itself. Now the general public of the UK can truly see every street that the Torch Relay will pass through and start to plan how they will celebrate. And we have been able to prove that 95% of the population really are within a one hour’s journey of the Olympic Flame.
'Historic event'
The route is the result of two years' planning and consultation across the whole of the UK. The Torch Team has driven the route four times – goodness knows how many hours of driving this has entailed!
We have already started to see how communities the length and breadth of the UK are planning to celebrate this historic event. The bunting is being prepared; faces are going to be painted; and gold and white flowers are being planted in honour of the day that the Torch Relay comes to town.
As exciting as this is, the real emotional rollercoaster begins with the announcement of the majority of the 8,000 Torchbearers
Moment of pride
During the day I met Diana Gould who, at 99 years old, is our oldest Torchbearer (she will be 100 when she runs with the Flame). She was joined by Dominic MacGowan who is our youngest Torchbearer and will be 12 when he runs with the Flame. Both were kitted our in their Torchbearer uniform, designed by adidas. Diana, who teaches older people how to keep fit, told me that being selected as a Torchbearer was the proudest moment of her life. She also told me that the secret to her great age was eating chocolate every day!
Every one of our Torchbearers has a story to share and each one is looking forward to their moment to shine during the 70 days of the Torch Relay. Of course, this is an exciting moment for their friends and family too and as each person now knows the day on which they will be carrying the Flame, their loved ones can start planning to be around to cheer them on. We can also expect to see some famous faces amongst our Torchbearers, and these will be announced over the coming weeks.
60 days to go!
It is now only 60 days until the Olympic Flame arrives into the UK on Friday 18 May. It has been a mammoth journey getting to this point, but the real journey begins then. And I look forward to the Great British welcome I think we can expect, and the wonderful stories that our Torchbearers will tell and our communities will celebrate.
