Suffolk towns and villages on London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route named

SIXTEEN towns and villages in Suffolk will extend a warm welcome to the Olympic flame as it makes its way around the UK on its 70 day journey to the London 2012 Games.

Lowestoft, Wrentham, Reydon, Southwold, Kelsale, Saxmundham, Aldeburgh, Wickham Market, Ufford, Melton, Woodbridge, Felixstowe and Ipswich, will all host the torch as it travels through Suffolk on 5^th July 2012 and Haverhill, Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket will host it on 7^th July.

Everyone in Suffolk lives within 30 minutes of the route the torch will take.

Not only will the relay include villages, towns and cities along the route, it will also take in hundreds of important landmarks; from the famous to the unexpected; natural to the man made; historical to the modern. In Suffolk this will include Southwold’s iconic beach huts - helping to paint a picture that shows the diversity of the UK.

Each torchbearer will carry the flame for 300m before passing it onto the next person in front of Suffolk people and in some cases - the world’s media.

The towns and villages named today are part of over 1,000 locations announced by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) through which the Olympic flame will be carried.

Councillor Kathy Gosling, Suffolk County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sport, Culture, Diversity, Health and Wellbeing, said: "I really hope that everyone sees just how special a moment we will get to experience next year.

"As the torch passes through our large urban towns and our small rural villages, it will be an opportunity for people in Suffolk to come together and demonstrate to the world what a wonderful place our county is.

"I'm particularly thrilled that everyone in Suffolk lives within 30 minutes of the torch's planned route - which is significantly better than the aspirations of the torch relay organisers.

"My message to everyone is to come and be part of this truly unique opportunity. It doesn't matter if you're young, old, sporty, arty or just curious. This is about Suffolk welcoming the flame and sharing the experience together."

LOCOG Chair, Sebastian Coe, added his support to the torch travelling through so many Suffolk towns and villages.

He said: “We are thrilled to confirm that these places in Suffolk will act as host locations for the Olympic flame, extending an invitation to people across the county to welcome the Olympic torch relay during its journey around the UK. This is the UK’s moment to shine and I want to encourage people across Suffolk to start planning how they can be part of this once in a lifetime opportunity and show their support for the inspirational Torchbearers chosen to carry the Olympic flame as we count down to the start of the Olympic Games.”

The 70 day Olympic torch relay, will start at Land’s End, Cornwall on the morning of 19 May 2012. On leaving Land’s End, the flame will travel an estimated 8,000 miles around the UK giving thousands of communities and individuals their moment to shine as the Olympic flame comes to a place near them.

In announcing the villages, towns and cities LOCOG has realised the aspiration of taking the Olympic flame to within an hour’s journey time of 95% of the population. In fact, over 95% of the population will be within just 10 miles of the flame next summer. The street by street detail of the route will be confirmed next year.

People are invited to view the interactive map at www.london2012.com/olympictorchrelaymap to find their nearest community through which the Olympic flame will be carried.

On the final day of the Olympic torch relay, it is LOCOG’s intention that the Olympic flame will travel down the River Thames as it makes its way to the Olympic stadium on 27 July 2012 for the lighting of the cauldron at the opening ceremony, signifying the official start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Olympic flame will be carried across the UK by 8,000 inspirational torchbearers each of whom will have a story of personal achievement and/or contribution to the local community. In December this year, successful nominees will be contacted with a conditional offer and final torchbearer places will start to be confirmed from February 2012 onwards.

Today LOCOG launches two new public participation programmes. The ‘Local Leaders’ initiative is an invitation to people to take the 2012 Games into their community and create their own celebrations next year, for the Olympic torch relay and other key moments during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. People are encouraged to sign up to the Local Leader programme at www.london2012.com/localleaders to receive further information on a range of themed celebration ideas focusing on the opening ceremony evening, gardening, quizzes and barbecues and be in the front row to receive free London 2012 event materials to support events.

Also launched today is the ‘Get Set for the Olympic Torch Relay’ education resource, available to all schools registered with Get Set, London 2012’s official education programme. The aim of the resource is to provide schools with cross-curricular resources aimed at teachers working with 3 to 16 year olds to aid learning around history of Olympic torch relays, the design of the London 2012 Olympic torch relay and the torch itself. A further education resource will launch next year to encourage schools to plan a welcome for the Olympic flame and show support for the torchbearers.   Lloyds TSB, official Education Partner of the London 2012 Olympic torch relay, has launched their Flame Followers schools programme which complements the Get Set resources, and gives schools once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to be right at the heart of the excitement and celebrations of the relay. 

Source: Rising to the Challenge Suffolk