On Friday 22 June, the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay – presented by Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung – will travel 60.25 miles through 12 communities on its journey from Kendal to Blackpool.
• Today the Relay will travel 60.25 miles
• 139 Torchbearers will carry the Flame
• Evening celebration to take place at The Tower Festival Headland, Blackpool
• Images from today can be downloaded here
The Relay will travel through the following communities: Kendal, Milnthorpe, Carnforth, Bolton-le-Sands, Hest Bank, Morecambe, Lancaster, Garstang, St Michael’s on Wyre, Fleetwood, Cleveleys, and Blackpool.
Highlights for today include:
8am – The first Torchbearer of the day will be Michael Liptrot, 49, from Kendal who will start with the Flame at Kendal Castle. Michael was nominated for his work at Kendal Judo Club ensuring that others can reach their potential.
11.32am – Victoria Brier, 54, from Heysham, will carry the Flame to the Eric Morecambe statue. Victoria was selected through the Lloyds TSB campaign for the care that she gave to her terminally ill father and her work at a residential college for young adults with cerebral palsy.
4.45pm – Peter Cunningham, 70, from Southport, will carry the Flame on the Blackpool Tramway from Rossall School to West Drive. Peter was selected through the Lloyds TSB campaign for the work that he has done in housing homeless and needy people across the UK.
6.32pm – Sue Henry, 53, from the Wirral, will carry the Flame in a lantern to the top of Blackpool Tower. Sue was selected through the Samsung campaign for being the driving force behind the NHS 2012 Challenge, which helps all staff to become more active and live a healthier life using sport and other physical activities. Having launched the programme with little or no budget, it is down to her passion for really making a difference within the NHS workforce, that this scheme has been so successful.
6.33pm – Current Strictly Come Dancing champions, Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani will carry the Flame into the ballroom of the Blackpool Tower, the location of their victory in December last year.
Harry is the drummer in pop supergroup McFly. Harry is a dedicated supporter of charities, with two in particular that are very close to his heart, Eyes A Light and Teenage Cancer Trust. He is very involved in helping raise awareness and funds, and regularly visits the hospitals and homes. He also climbed Ben Nevis with fellow band mate Tom Fletcher to raise funds for underprivileged children.
Aliona started to learn ballet at the age of five and moved to Russia to learn ballroom dancing at the age of 11. In 1997 she moved to the US and joined the Kaiser Dance Academy in New York. In 2001 she was part of the US Ballroom team for the National Dance Congress and won the Amateur Ballroom category. Following the competition she turned professional and remains the youngest dancer in the US to have done so. She still lives in the US where she competes, performs and teaches. As well as winning the Strictly Come Dancing title in 2011 with Harry, she was also the runner up in 2010 with Matt Baker.
6.50pm – Harry and Aliona will carry the Flame down the Comedy Carpet into the Evening Celebration at the Tower Festival Headland.
The Evening Celebration will be only the second time that the Tower Festival Headland is used for an event on this scale.
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 Blackpool Council. The show will start at 5pm.
The line-up includes music from Katy B, 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 Blackpool Council.
Towards the end of the two-hour show, the last Torchbearers of the day in Blackpool – Harry and Aliona - will light a celebration cauldron on stage at the event which will enable the Olympic Flame to be seen by the audience.
Other Torchbearer highlights include:
Dominic Grove, 18, from Fleetwood, will carry the Flame in Morecambe. Dominic was nominated through the LOCOG public nomination campaign for the way that he managed to turn his life around after being put into care and he is now an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust.
Leila Hamrang, 23, from Manchester, will carry the Flame in Fleetwood. She was selected through the Coca-Cola Future Flames programme. She was diagnosed with cancer aged 13 and despite the odds has managed to overcome it twice. In 2001 she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and despite beating it relapsed in 2005 which led to a bone marrow transplant in 2005. Since then over the past ten years, Leila has become heavily involved with numerous charities and voluntary organisations as she is determined to give whatever she can back to society. Despite being left with a physical disability which leaves her in constant pain, Leila is passionate climber and cyclist and hopes to inspire others with a disability to offer up home no matter what the circumstance.
Richard Clement, 32 from Blackpool, will carry the Flame in Blackpool. He was nominated through the Lloyds TSB public nomination campaign. He suffered horrific injuries in 2010 while on active service in Afghanistan. He lost both legs and suffered extensive injuries to his torso and an arm. Lives a full and active life, including championing the cause of injured soldiers and campaigning successfully for soldiers to have the right to have their sperm frozen before tours of duty.
Patricia Molyneux, 39, was nominated through the Samsung campaign. Patricia was nominated by her daughter for the strength and courage she showed in beating breast cancer. During her recovery from surgery, chemo and radio therapy, her house was flooded and she was forced out of her home for a year, but she did not let this stop her as she sought to help others in Cumbria cope with cancer, acting on a number of advisory panels and attending community groups. She has also established a number of fitness groups for Age UK, all the while finding time to be a wonderful mother and grandmother. Patricia is from Cumbria and is carrying the Flame in Kendal.
James Williams, Director, Olympic Torch Relay, Coca-Cola Northwest Europe & Nordics, said: "Today, two more Coca-Cola Future Flames will help us celebrate the thirty-fifth day of our amazing journey, when Danielle Giles and Leila Hamrang carry the Olympic Flame in Morecambe and Fleetwood. We will also get everyone to Move to the Beat tonight as we bring Katy B to the stage in Blackpool."
Sally Hancock, Director, London 2012 Partnership at Lloyds Banking Group, said: "Today marks the halfway point of the Olympic Torch Relay and we are proud to be bringing the excitement of London 2012 to the heart of communities across the UK over the remainder of the journey. We are calling on everyone to get involved and cheer on their local Lloyds TSB Torchbearers – extraordinary people like Vikki Brier and Sergeant Rick Clement, running in Morecambe and Blackpool. The Lloyds TSB Flame Followers will also be lighting up the route ahead of the Flame before their Flame Followers Spectacular performance in Blackpool tonight."
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 as it has given us the perfect opportunity to encourage everyone from all around the world to be involved in the Olympic Games."
For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100 or visit the website at www.london2012.com. Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog http://blog.london2012.com or follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012
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