An Introduction to our Campaign for the Olympic Torch to Enter the UK through Dover
One of the main features of the Games is the ceremonies. The Torch Relay is an important part of the build up to the Games.
Celebrating and uniting sport and culture, the Relay will bring the spirit of the Games to the whole of the UK in the months leading up to the Opening Ceremony. Lit in Olympia, Greece, the Torch is now expected to travel directly to the UK with NO international leg of the relay. Carried by Torch bearers, yet to be decided, the Olympic Flame will pass through communities, with entertainment, shows and concerts marking its arrival.
LOCOG have announced that the Olympic Flame will arrive in the UK on Friday 18 May 2012 and will travel around the UK for 70 days, arriving in London the weekend before the 2012 Games begin. There will be an anticipated 8000 runners, half of whom will be young people. The Torch will start each day with a photoshoot, visit either a school or a sports club each lunchtime, and have a ‘cauldron ceremony’ each evening with the local community.
It is anticipated the Torch will visit all 66 cities in the UK, all Live Sites and all 28 UNESCO heritage sites within UK. For Kent, this means the Torch will almost certainly visit Canterbury Cathedral/St Augustine’s Abbey/St Martin’s Church and Dover. The Paralympic Torch Relay will be run between 7 and 10 days, and MAY be run for 24 hours a day!
London 2012 will be planning the Torch Relays thoughout 2010. There is typically both an Olympic and a Paralympic Torch Relay, the latter of which is traditionally only within the host country. The outline route for the Olympic Torch Relay could be announced in 2010 too. In March 2010, all local authorities across the UK were invited to submit expressions of interest and possible places of events the Torch might visit, and these submissions are currently being explored by a team at London 2012.
In addition to the Torch relay, Kent County Council and the Kent Campaign for the 2012 Games have been seeking to ensure that Dover is the welcome point for the Olympic Torch when it first reaches the UK's shores in 2012.
Reasons why:
- Dover was the welcome point for the Olympic Torch when London last hosted the Games in 1948. It would be fantastic to recreate this part of British Olympic history in 2012.
- Dover is the natural gateway between mainland Europe and the UK. A visitor's first and last impressions of the UK are formed here.
- The white cliffs are recognised by international audiences as Britain's second most famous landmark worldwide. The Torch's arrival at Dover would therefore reinforce international interest and media profile in the 2012 Games.
- Dover is undergoing significant regeneration. The chance to welcome the Torch provides an important opportunity to support Dover's renaissance and reflects the importance of the 2012 Games as a catalyst for regeneration.
- Dover has experience of hosting international sports events, and summer 2007 saw the World Archery Grand Prix, with Lord Sebastian Coe as Patron.
To continue to create our bid, we have now;
- Staged 'Dover and the Olympic Torch - a Young People's Conference' an event planned by Dover schools in partnership with the Campaign and with Future Creative, where children choose a campaign name ‘Pass the Passion’ around the bid for the Olympic Torch, wrote the campaign song, designed a possible website and learned about the last time the Torch was welcomed to the UK through Dover, when Britain hosted the 1948 Games. For a TV report on the Dover Torch project follow this link to Kent TV
- Staged a 'Visioning Event' in Dover gathering together key people to discuss the possible entry of the Olympic Torch via the port of Dover
- Worked alongside Dover District Council to engage the community with the Handover Ceremony of the Olympic Flag from Beijing to London on August 24th - for a TV report on this event follow this link to Kent TV
- Delivered Dover Light Up Open Up, a large scale event, attended by 12,000 people to celebrate the Launch of the Cultural Olympiad over 26-28 September. 2008 - for a report on this event follow this link to Kent TV
- Delivered phase two of Pass the Passion, the young people’s element of the Torch campaign. This is complete following the Schools Olympic Torch Relay between all 53 schools in the Dover Deal and Sandwich district. A schools designed torch, mural and playground music workshops around the Pass the Passion song were all key elements of this. Phase 3 (a Pass the Passion Festival) is now planned for September 2010
Links: London to welcome Olympic Torch in 2008 | London roars its approval of Olympic flame
(Last updated July 2010)
