Local heroes chosen to carry Olympic torch
Girl who gave up birthday party to raise money for sick
children selected from thousands
A 14 year-old girl from Aberdeenshire has become one of the
first people selected to carry the Olympic torch on its 70-day
journey around the UK next summer.
Ciara Ennis, from Huntly, was among thousands of people who were
yesterday offered a chance to take part in the relay.
"I am so excited and extremely proud to have been offered the
chance to take part in next year's Olympic Torch Relay," she
said.
"I feel very privileged to be given this opportunity as I am
sure there must have been thousands of people nominated."
Most of the 8,000 torchbearers will be local heroes who were
nominated by friends or family for impressive personal achievements
or for their contribution to their local community.
Over 60,000 people were nominated across the UK.
Ciara was chosen because she has raised thousands of pounds for
charity. Instead of having a 10th birthday party, she
went busking with friends and collected £1,600 for Children's
Hospices of Scotland (CHAS).
Last year she got her friends together and took part in a
charity relay, raising over £1,500 for Cancer Research UK. She
regularly goes and sings at old folks' homes and has taken part in
loads of other charity fundraisers.
"My friends and family have helped me in all my fundraising and
performing and I want to thank them all for their support," said
the modest schoolgirl.
"I am very happy to be representing the North East of Scotland
in such a historic event."
An average of 115 people will take part each day during the
8,000-mile Olympic Torch Relay, each running around 300 metres.
The flame will be in Scotland between 8 and 14 June next year
before continuing on its journey around the UK's famous sites,
landscapes, cities and local communities before arriving at the
Olympic Stadium on 27 July for the lighting of the cauldron at the
opening ceremony of the Games.
Click here to try our
Olympic torch quiz and
here to see an interactive map of the
Scottish leg of the Olympic torch relay
Lesson ideas and
suggestions
Read and discuss lesson ideas on our Facebook
page
Join our mailing list (Glow login
required)
Local heroes chosen to carry Olympic torch
8000-mile UK torch tour to spark excitement for 2012
Games
Hundreds of local heroes will carry the Olympic torch on its
six-day journey around Scotland next year as part of the build-up
to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The torch will arrive in the UK next May for a 70-day,
8,000-mile relay starting at Land's End and ending in Westminster
the day before the opening ceremony on 27 July.
The aim is that 95% of the UK population would take no longer
than an hour to travel to the relay.
The torch will reach Scotland for the first time on 8 June,
2012, when it arrives in Glasgow. From there it will travel on to
Inverness on 9 June and then around Orkney and Shetland on 10
June.
The torch will be carried on to the Isle of Lewis on 11 June,
before returning to mainland Scotland later the same day when it
passes through the streets of Aberdeen.
It will continue down the east coast of Scotland, being relayed
through Dundee on 12 June before torchbearers end the Scottish leg
of the parade in Edinburgh on 13 June.
Chairman of the Olympic organising committee Lord Coe said he
hopes the nationwide relay will help kick off an infectious stream
of national pride and celebration.
Lord Coe, a double Olympic champion in the 1500 metres,
said:
"The power of the flame and the torch is palpable. I have seen
it in the Games that I have competed in and the Games that I have
worked in.
"Its impact was not just about the expectation of great sporting
performances. I shall never forget listening transfixed to the
personal odyssey of those with me that day [in Vancouver for last
year's Winter Olympics] who also took part in the relay. For many
it had changed their lives and as it made its way around Canada, it
drew renewable power from every community it passed through.
"For many it changed their lives and as it made its way across
Canada's huge land mass, Vancouver's Games became Canada's Games -
that is our intention too and ours will be a Games that takes place
on your doorstep."
The relay in numbers
19 May, 2012: when the relay will start at
Land's End in Cornwall
6 islands to be visited: the Isle of Man,
Guernsey, Jersey, Shetland, Orkney and the Isle of Lewis.
12: the number of hours each day the torch will
be on the move.
70 days: the length of time the relay will
take.
95%: the proportion of the population who live
within an hour's travel of relay route.
8,000 torchbearers carry the flame.
8,000 miles: the total distance the torch will
travel
27 July 2012: the arrival date for the Olympic
torch at the opening ceremony in London, signifying the start of
the Games.
Click here to try our
Olympic torch quiz and
here to see an interactive map of the
Scottish leg of the Olympic torch relay
Lesson ideas and
suggestions
Read and discuss lesson ideas on our Facebook
page
Join our mailing list (Glow login
required)