Olympic Flame Visit Scottish Parliament

Day 27: Olympic Flame to Visit Scottish Parliament and Bamburgh Castle on Journey From Edinburgh to Alnwick

On Thursday 14 June, the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay – presented by Coca-Cola, Bank of Scotland and Samsung – will travel 140.20 miles through 24 communities on its journey from Edinburgh to Alnwick.

(PRWEB) June 14, 2012

On Thursday 14 June, the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay – presented by Coca-Cola, Bank of Scotland and Samsung – will travel 140.20 miles through 24 communities on its journey from Edinburgh to Alnwick.

·         On Day 27 the Relay will travel 140.20 miles

·         130 inspirational Torchbearers will carry the Flame

·         Evening celebration to take place at Alnwick Castle Pastures

·         Images from today can be downloaded here

130 inspirational Torchbearers will carry the Flame through the following communities: Edinburgh, Duddingston, Musselburgh, Dalkeith, Lasswade, Loanhead, Bilston, Milton Bridge, Penicuik, Eddleston, Peebles, Innerleithen, Walkerburn, Selkirk, Galashiels, Earlston, Gordon, Greenlaw, Duns, Chirnside, Foulden, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Bamburgh and Alnwick.

Highlights for today include:

7.08am – The first Torchbearer of the day will be Raquel Matos, 16, from Edinburgh, will start with the Flame at the Edinburgh Live Site in Festival Square. Raquel was nominated for her achievements inswimming and for being an excellent role model as a potential Olympian of the future.

7.30am – Sally Hyder, 49, from Edinburgh, will carry the Flame to the front of the Scottish Parliament building. Sally was nominated through the LOCOG public nomination campaign for her determination in battling MS and all the work that she has done to promote Canine Partners who helped to turn her life around.

9.53am – Lauren Wales, 13, from Blaydon on Tyne, will carry the Flame on a bike through Loanhead. She was nominated for her dedication to dancing which resulted in her being part of the team that won the World Irish Dancing Championships in 2011.

12.49pm – Sean Walls, 37, from East Kilbride, will carry the Flame on horseback in Selkirk. He was nominated for setting up Sight Aid International which offers free eye tests and glasses to people in Kenya.

Thomas Holligan, 18, from Edinburgh, will carry the Flame to the Forest Pitch. Thomas was nominated after a gold and silver in the European Youth Olympic Festival.

6.10pm – Brian Tinnion, 51, from Ponteland, will carry the Flame into Bamburgh Castle. Brian was nominated through the LOCOG public nomination campaign for his for his work as an operational fire fighter and the key role he plays in the local community.

The evening celebration will take place in Alnwick Castle Pastures in front of the magnificent Medieval Castle of Alnwick which featured in the Harry Potter movies.

The evening celebration will feature a variety of entertainment staged by LOCOG and the three Presenting Partners of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay - Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung - with support from Northumberland County Council. The show will start at 5.30pm.

The line-up includes music from Little Comets, 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 Northumberland County 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.

Torchbearer highlights:

Allan Wells, 60, from Edinburgh, will carry the Flame in Selkirk. He won a gold medal in the 100m at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, becoming the oldest Olympic 100m champion at that time.

Chris Paterson, 34, from Edinburgh, will carry the Flame in Galashiels. Chris Paterson is the most capped Scotsman in the history of the game. In a stellar 12-year international career, Paterson wrote his name into the annals of Scottish Rugby by breaking just about every conceivable record.

Lynn Mccafferty, 33, from Cumbernauld, will carry the Flame in Selkirk. An inspirational captain who has dedicated her life to play handball at the highest level she possibly could, making huge sacrifices along the way. She always gives 100% in everything she does and is a great ambassador for the sport. She is very active in trying to develop the sport back home in Scotland and is committed to seeing the Olympic legacy carry on north of the border once the games are over, with Lynn playing a major role in that. She leads by example, is so brave on court, with a never say die attitude and always fighting till the last minute. She has served British Handball well for over 15 years and thoroughly deserves to be recognised for her contribution to this developing sport.

Kenneth Reid, 52, from North Berwick, will carry the Flame in Musselburgh. Ken was nominated through the LOCOG public nomination campaign for the work that he does in helping organisations to be more open and accessible to people with disabilities.

Louis Gallo, 45, from Knoxville, will carry the Flame in Edinburgh. He was selected through the Samsung campaign. He has made an impact on the lives of so many students at West High School. He dedicates many hours out of his day to be our sponsor for the Youth in Government programs, which we look forward to every year, and he also takes us to Boston to attend Harvard Model Congress. He has won numerous awards such as West High Teacher of the Year (2003), East TN Teacher of the Year (2007-08), Knox County Teacher of the Year (2007-08), and Milken National Educator Award (2003-04).

John Steede, 70, from Jedburgh, will carry the Flame in Selkirk. He was nominated through Bank of Scotland's public nomination campaign. He set up a running school in the late 1970s and over the past four decades has coached many a young athlete to victory. He is a six-time Great British Champion and is still training the youth of Jedburgh as well as competing himself.

James Williams, Director, Olympic Torch Relay, Coca-Cola Northwest Europe & Nordics, said: 'Today, two more Coca-Cola Future Flames will help us celebrate the twenty-seventh day of our amazing journey, when Connor Rowntree and Ellie Wilson carry the Olympic Flame in Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Peebles. We will also get everyone to Move to the Beat tonight as we bring Little Comets to the stage in Alnwick.'

Sally Hancock, Director, London 2012 Partnership at Lloyds Banking Group, said: 'The Olympic Torch Relay has had an incredible reception throughout Scotland. Bank of Scotland is bringing the excitement and inspiration of London 2012 through the final stages of the Olympic Torch Relay journey in Scotland. We’re calling on everyone to cheer on their local Bank of Scotland Torchbearers – extraordinary people like Neil Allan from Edinburgh and John Steede from Jedburgh, running in Penicuik and Selkirk. They have made a difference in their communities through outstanding contributions to sport for young people in their community.'

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 and we feel the Torchbearers selected really do demonstrate the ‘gone the extra mile’ community element that lies at the heart of our London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay campaign.'

For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office.

Notes to editors:

Each day two short packages of broadcast footage will be made available. The packages will be available via the Footage library – accessible from the Media Centre on london2012.com and direct from this linkhttp://footagelibrary.london2012.com. Media will need to register for access in advance. Registration is free.

The broadcast of the Olympic Torch Relay is provided for Editorial Use Only. There can be no commercial association, no third party association and no commercial/ad superimposition on the video footage, unless the prior written consent of the IOC is acquired.

About the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners:

As the longest standing Presenting Partner of the Olympic Torch Relay, Coca-Cola will be using its heritage and experience to spread excitement across the UK ahead of London 2012. Coca-Cola's national nomination campaign - Future Flames – has focused on finding inspirational young people from across the country to have the once in a lifetime opportunity to carry the Olympic Flame. This summer Coca-Cola will celebrate these Future Flames: young people who use their passions in areas like sport and physical activity, music and dance, and community and the environment; to spread happiness in their local communities.

As the only National Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Lloyds TSB will be taking the inspiration and excitement of the Olympic Flame right to the heart of communities across the UK. As part of Lloyds Banking Group, Bank of Scotland will be the National Presenting Partner in Scotland.

We are creating as many opportunities as possible for communities the length and breadth of the UK to get involved as the Flame travels past their front doors. Lloyds TSB’s [Bank of Scotland’s] troupe of performers the Flame Followers will be travelling ahead of the Flame to excite crowds with a unique fusion of street performance, theatre and sport celebrating the endeavour, athleticism, agility and skill of Olympic sporting heroes, Team GB.

Lloyds Banking Group is Britain’s biggest corporate investor in UK communities and in 2011 invested £85 million and as part of the Group’s Community Investment Programme, we’ve launched the Lloyds Banking Group Community Fund to give back to the communities in which we operate and pass through on our journey with the Olympic Flame. We’re inviting everyone to visit the Bank of Scotland stand at each Evening Celebration to vote for a community project in their area that inspires and supports young people. By voting at the Evening Celebration members of the public will automatically enter a draw to win four tickets to London 2012. The two projects that receive the most votes in each locality will each win a £5,000 grant from Lloyds Banking Group. At the Bank of Scotland site members of the public will also have the opportunity to have their photo taken with the Olympic Torch, meet Bank of Scotland Local Heroes – the future stars of Team GB and ParalympicsGB – and get up close to our Flame Followers.

As a Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Samsung aims to encourage everyone to be part of the greatest show on Earth to make London 2012 ‘Everyone’s Olympic Games.’ We aspire to offer new and memorable experiences for everyone around the world through our own innovative and smart wireless technology. Samsung is providing 1,360 Torchbearers, who have “gone the extra mile” by contributing to the local communities, through its worldwide public nomination campaign. In total over 25,000 nominations were received. Samsung will support towns and cities to celebrate the exciting moment of the Torch Relay and help showcase Great Britain’s cultural landmarks to provide a more enjoyable experience to everyone. The evening celebrations that will be staged by Samsung in 66 towns and cities throughout the Olympic Flame’s journey across the UK, will allow Samsung to entertain the community they are visiting. The Samsung caravan, complete with LED screen on the side showcasing runners and goodwill messages, will follow the Torchbearers around the UK cheering up everyone to celebrate the Torch Relay with music and interaction with local communities. It is Samsung’s ambition that London 2012 will be an event that reaches and involves more people than on any other Olympic Games occasion.

The Supporters of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay are:

Worldwide Olympic Partners Procter and Gamble and Visa, Tier One Partners adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT and EDF, Tier Three Providers Aggreko, Holiday Inn and NATURE VALLEY.

The BBC will be providing extensive coverage of the Torch Relay on television, radio and online. This will include special Breakfast shows on every BBC local radio station, and extended live coverage of an evening celebration event in every Nation and English Region. Full details of the coverage will be at bbc.co.uk/2012.

London 2012 Games partners:

The Worldwide Olympic Partners who support the London 2012 Olympic Games and the National Olympic Committees around the world are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos, Dow Chemical Company, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.

LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS.

There are now twenty-eight domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heathrow Airport, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, NATURE VALLEY, Next, Nielsen, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster, Trebor and Westfield