Bring the Olympic Flame to Leicester
Campaign launched to bring
Olympic Flame to Leicester
Campaign update - 14 April
Thank you to everyone who has supported the campaign. The final count of signatures is currently being completed - I will post another update to let you know how the campaign moves forward from here.
Campaign update - 20 November
Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition, collected signatures and pledged their support so far. The campaign is gathering pace and I believe we can make a difference and get Leicester on the map for the Olympic Torch Relay.
I have launched the campaign to get the Olympic flame torch to Leicester in the run up to the 2012 London Olympics.
The Torch Relay is one of the most important events leading up to the 2012 London Olympics, with the Olympic Torch travelling to communities across the UK. The Torch Relay will take the Olympic spirit to all corners of the UK in the build up to the Opening Ceremony of the London games. The torch will be lit in Olympia and will make an international journey before arriving in the UK.
Planning for the torch relay will begin next year after the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the final route will be announced in 2011.
The Olympic flame is symbolic and has been associated with the Olympics since the 1928 Amsterdam Games.
I have written to the Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell MP and Lord Coe, who led London’s bid for the Olympics, to make the case for Leicester to be on the Torch Relay route. I am launching a petition for people to sign to back the campaign to bring the Olympic torch to Leicester.
We will all remember where we were on the day London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics; I now want everyone to be able to remember the day the Olympic torch came here to Leicester. The Torch will bring the Olympic sprit to the streets of Leicester in the most special and symbolic way, and will be an occasion our city will be able to cherish for a long time.
As the 2008 European City of Sport and as the host city for the 2009 Special Olympics, Leicester already has an excellent programme of sporting and cultural events to lead us towards 2012. Bringing the Olympic torch to Leicester would be the best way possible to celebrate our achievements as a city. I would urge everyone in Leicester to sign the petition which I will be sending to the Olympics Minister.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our young people to see firsthand the importance of the 2012 Olympics, and to be inspired to get involved in sporting, cultural, educational and community events in the build up to 2012. I am confident that 2012 will be a fantastic occasion not just for London, but for Leicester and towns and cities across the UK.
I want all our communities in Leicester to back this campaign.
I would encourage organisations like schools, shops, community groups, sports clubs and businesses to back the campaign. Petition forms can be downloaded from this website or by writing to me at the Town Hall.
The campaign already has the backing of Council Leader Ross Willmott, Peter Soulsby MP and Patricia Hewitt MP.