• On Day 13 the Relay will travel 107.95 miles
• 135 inspirational Torchbearers will carry the Flame
• Evening celebration to take place at Queen’s Park Playing Fields
• Images from the day will be available to download from here throughout the day
• Over 700,000 people cheered the Olympic Flame in Wales this week
135 Torchbearers will carry the Flame before it arrives at the Evening Celebration in Bolton where a cauldron will be lit by Unified World Light-Welterweight Champion and Olympic silver medallist, Amir Khan, to mark the culmination of the day’s festivities. After the celebrations have finished, the Flame will be transferred to a lantern and it will stay in Bolton overnight.
The Olympic Torch Relay presented by Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung will be carried through the following communities tomorrow:
Stoke-on-Trent, Cobridge, Burslem, Middleport, Crewe, Congleton, Macclesfield, Knutsford, Runcorn, Widnes, Warrington, Lowton, Abram, Wigan, Scholes, Ince, Hindley, Westhoughton and Bolton.
The first Torchbearer of the day will be Stoke City manager Tony Pulis. He has managed in all four divisions of the professional game, has never been relegated and led Stoke City to the Premier League for the first time in their history, their first ever FA Cup Final and oversaw qualification into Europe. This year he ran the London marathon to raise money for a local children's hospice and also climbed Mt Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the same charity. In May, Tony undertook his most gruelling challenge yet to cycle 960 miles from John O'Groats to Land’s End in 24 hours to raise a further £100,000 for the Children's Hospice Trust he so avidly supports. He will start with the Flame at the Potteries Museum.
During the day the Flame will visit a number of iconic landmarks. Highlights include:
Tatton Park. Michael Dooling, 63, from Prescot, who was nominated through the LOCOG public nomination for his dedication to athletics, will carry the Flame through Tatton Park. Mike has been involved in athletics for over 50 years. He is a former PE teacher, who has always had a real passion for improving his own and other people’s athletic capability. Among other accolades he has been a successful Athletics performer, running the London marathon in under 3 hours, as well as a highly successful coach, and official. In tribute to the outstanding commitment shown towards the sport over the past 5 years he has been English Schools Athletics Association Team manager and President of the ESAA. He has been a coach and secretary at Liverpool Harriers A.C for over 30 years, inspiring and motivating young people become better athletes.
Jodrell Bank Observatory. Comedian John Bishop will carry the Flame to the top of the tower on the Lovell Telescope. In 2012 he completed a 290-mile triathlon from Paris to London in five days, to raise money for the BBC charity Sport Relief. His "Week of Hell" began at the Eiffel Tower on Monday, 27 February, from where he cycled 185 miles to Calais. The next day he rowed across the English Channel as part of a team including Davina McCall, Andrew Flintoff and Denise Lewis, then ran the 90 miles from Dover to London in three days, finishing in Trafalgar Square on Friday, 2 March. On Sport Relief day 23 March 2012 it was announced that to date his efforts had raised £3.4 million.
Ted Gleaves Sports Centre, Widnes. Caitlin Hudson, 19, from Runcorn, who was nominated through Lloyds TSB for her passion and commitment to raising awareness about climate change, will carry the Flame around the athletics track at the Ted Cleaves Sports Centre.
Warrington Town Centre. Brazilian basketball star, Oscar Schmidt, who was nominated through the Samsung campaign, will carry the Flame into Warrington Town Centre. Then in front of the fountain, he will hand the Flame to John Paul Smith, 25, from Rainhill, who was nominated through the Lloyds TSB campaign for his charity work in his local community. He currently works for a charitable organisation called Warrington Youth For Christ who support young people who come from disadvantage backgrounds and communities. During his time working for the charity he has set up a youth project on a Friday evening support young adults to get them off the streets and give them something to do. In the last year the project has grown from 10 young people to approx 150 young people attending on a weekly basis. They provide football tournaments, food and drink on a large double-decker bus, play stations and girly activities. He leads around 20 volunteers and recently received a Chief Constables commendation for outstanding social action. Since the project began, the local community has seen a large decrease in the amount of anti social behaviour in young people.
Victoria Square, Bolton. Andrew Thorp, 35, from Bolton, who was nominated through the LOCOG public nomination for setting up a charity to help homeless people to rehabilitate themselves through football with the support of a 30-strong volunteer base. With Andy’s help Street Soccer has grown to a full rehabilitation scheme providing FA Level 1 coaching qualifications to individuals who are homeless, in supported housing or on probation. Then on the steps of the town hall he will hand the Flame to British Olympian Martyn Woodroffe, 61, from Warrington, who was a silver medallist in Mexico City in 1968. He became a swimming coach whilst he was still a competitor himself and his dedication to producing the greatest swimming team has continued. Martyn was for a period the Scottish National Coach and has more recently returned home to his home of Wales to be the National Performance Director for the Welsh Swimming team. In 2010 Martyn led the Welsh team to their 2nd highest medal tally ever at a Commonwealth Games, a remarkable achievement given the testing conditions experienced by the team. Martyn is also technical selector for British Swimming; he has contributed to selecting and building highly successful junior and senior teams.
Other Torchbearers during the day will include:
Kirsty Gallacher, 36, from Surrey, will carry the Flame through Wigan. She was selected through the Lloyds TSB nomination process. The daughter of former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, Kirsty has always been passionate about sport. She started her television career at Sky Sports as an editorial assistant and got her first presenting break on Sky Sports News in 1998. Kirsty is currently using her profile to help promote the Sky Sports Living for Sport scheme, which uses sport stars and sport skills to improve the lives of thousands of young people. When she is not working, Kirsty likes to keep fit. She is a keen athlete and excels in a number of sports including swimming, sprinting and golf.
Roy Wood, 68, from Wigan, will carry the Flame in Abram. For the past 30 years he has given up his free time to train young people in wrestling. Last year he was awarded the BBC North West Unsung Sport Hero award.
Kay Fletcher, 64, from Manchester, will carry the Flame through Lowton. She has played a major part in transforming the Fallowfield community. Inhabited by a constant turnover of students, Fallowfield was riddled with rubbish, street crime and unused spaces. Kay has played a major part in setting up a neighbourhood community scheme in which residents may come together and take action. Thanks to Kay, the council agreed to more bins, flower boxes along the roadsides, a small garden area outside the local Tesco covering what used to be a 'rubbish dump' in which alcoholics would gather. Due to Kay's selfless will and determination in contacting the local council, more community support workers now patrol the streets, meaning that there is significantly less crime. Alongside this, Kay is also treasurer for her local park, Platt Fields and spends countless hours fund raising and managing the finances in the hope that the park will be well maintained for current and future visitors to enjoy. She also runs a local community house, The Brow, which provides all manner of services for people needing counselling, child-care or a cup of tea and a chat with a friendly face. All of this is done purely out of selflessness and the benefit of other people. It is also done despite suffering from arthritis in both knees and having overcome Breast Cancer. A truly inspirational woman on all counts, as I am sure would be agreed by many local people, councillors and friends who have been touched by the kind nature of this strong, independent woman.
Cameron Foster, 17, from Wigan, will carry the Flame through Hindley. He was selected through the Coca-Cola Future Flames programme. His passion for fundraising began 6 years ago when he fell 40ft from a ski lift onto compacted ice. He dislocated both ankles, broke both legs and his arm. During his rehabilitation he realized how difficult it was for others less able to become involved in sport. He has numerous ideas on how to progress and has set himself a number of goals and targets. He has also been successful in securing a place with the charity ‘Cricket Without Boundaries’ which is a project that sends volunteers to African countries to coach cricket to children.
Linda Roche, 49 from Macclesfield, will carry the Flame through Macclesfield. She was nominated through the Lloyds TSB public nomination campaign. She is a Paralympian who participated in the 1984 Stoke Mandeville Paralympic Games. During the 1990s Linda was the first female wheelchair user to represent England at Badminton. She has been a volunteer for the Wheelies Club in Macclesfield for 6 years where she spends time motivating and inspiring disabled young people and helping them to realise their full potential and to raise their self belief.
Francis Rock, 38, from Bolton, will carry the Flame through Bolton. He was nominated through the Samsung campaign. He has supported the Macmillan charity for many years, taking on challenges year after year to raise vital funds for the cause. Last year he completed Trek to the Sky, and conquered Mount Kilimanjaro raising a total of170k. He is currently in training and raising money for the Macmillan Everest base camp challenge in 2013 and regularly goes above and beyond to help and support the charity.
The line-up includes music from The Wombats, a dance troupe who will provide a unique fusion of street performance, theatre and sport and dance act Twist and Pulse. There will also be entertainment from local acts staged by Bolton Council.
Towards the end of the two-hour show, the last Torchbearer of the day will light a celebration cauldron on stage at the event which will enable the Olympic Flame to be seen by the audience.
The Olympic Torch Relay will also include exciting moments with extreme heights, high speeds and breath-taking spectacles and the Flame will be travelling by different methods of transport including horseback, bicycle, tram and steam-train. Every county in England and every Local Authority area in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will host the Olympic Flame, with visits reaching as far north as Lerwick in Scotland to St Helier in the south, Lowestoft in the east and Enniskillen in the west. Many thousands of people are expected to welcome the Olympic Flame along the route each day and celebrate the achievements of the Torchbearers in parks, squares and streets right around the UK.
The convoy travelling with the Flame consists of 14 core vehicles, including a pilot car, Torchbearer drop-off and pick-up shuttles, Presenting Partner vehicles, a media vehicle, a command car and security vehicles. The lead convoy, including the Presenting Partner vehicles, will provide entertainment for the crowds. The Torchbearer will follow some 5 to 7 minutes later.
A crew of approximately 350 people will be working each day of the Relay. Core teams of LOCOG staff, the Metropolitan Police Torch Security Team, Presenting Partners, host Police Forces and host Local Authorities will be working together throughout the 70 days.
James Williams, Director, Olympic Torch Relay, The Coca-Cola Company, said: ‘We’re are now well into our second week of what is shaping up to be an incredible 70 day journey around the UK. We’re so excited to join with the crowds lining the streets to celebrate our inspirational Coca-Cola Future Flames as they carry the Olympic Flame through their local communities, for example today Cameron Foster will carry the Flame through Hindley. We’re continuing to spread the magic of London 2012 across the United Kingdom, and will be getting everyone to Move to the Beat tonight as we bring The Wombats to the stage in Bolton.’
Sally Hancock, Director, London 2012 Partnership at Lloyds Banking Group, said: ‘The reception for the Olympic Torch Relay in the North West has been amazing. Every community has come out in force to feel the excitement of London 2012. Lloyds TSB is bringing as many opportunities as possible for people to get involved as the Olympic Flame passes their door. We’re calling on everyone to cheer their local Lloyds TSB Torchbearers – extraordinary people like Linda Roche and Norman Brown, running in Macclesfield and Wigan. Our troupe of performers, the Flame Followers, are lighting up the celebrations along the route ahead of the Relay before their Flame Followers Spectacular in Bolton tonight.’
Sunny Hwang, Vice President & Head of Global Sports Marketing, Samsung Electronics, said: ‘Samsung is delighted to be a Presenting Partner of the Olympic Torch Relay as it has given us the perfect opportunity to encourage everyone from all around the world to be involved in the Olympic Games.’
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