Mayor and schoolchildren launch town's Olympic Torch route
Monday, 19th March 2012.
The route the Olympic Torch will take through Haverhill on July 7 was unveiled today - and it was confirmed Haverhill Paralympian Caroline Maclean will carry it after all.
Children at Burton End Primary School joined with town mayor Cllr Maureen Byrne to celebrate the launch of the route.
Cllr Byrne described the prospect as a bigh day for Haverhill, which would help boost local business, and expressed the hope that large numbers of townspeople would come out to welcome it. [You can see the children and Cllr Byrne in action at the launch by going to Haverhill TV on this site later today]
The Torch will travel 8,000 miles in a relay featuring 8,000 torchbearers.
One of them will be Haverhill’s own Paralympic athlete, Caroline Maclean. Caroline has represented Team GB in wheelchair basketball at the Games in Sydney, Athens and Beijing and will be part of the team at the upcoming Olympics in 2012.
There had previously been suggestions that Caroline would carry the Torch, but not through the Haverhill leg of the relay. However, she will now be carrying the flame through her home town.
Matthew Hancock MP wrote to the organisers LOCOG a fortnight ago, seeking to ensure Caroline’s part in the relay would be through Haverhill.
Commenting on the announcement, Matthew said: "I am delighted that the Olympic authorities have acted with such good sense to ensure Caroline Maclean can carry the Torch through Haverhill.
"Caroline is the town's Olympian, and this decision will be a boost for Caroline and the whole town. I commend all those who have campaigned hard, and now successfully, for this most welcome outcome.
"The torch's trip through Haverhill is recognition that this is a town on the up, and I'm sure it's a day everyone is looking forward to."
Details of the route the Olympic flame will take when it visits Haverhill on Saturday 7 July have been announced, giving residents a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to experience the spectacle locally, regardless of whether they have tickets for the Games.
The route will go through the heart of the town giving people a chance to celebrate the achievements of the inspirational torchbearers carrying the flame whose names are also announced today.
The streets along the torch relay can be viewed in full at www.london2012.com/olympictorchrelay, which gives street-by-street details and proposed start times for when the Olympic Flame will travel through Haverhill.
Residents living in and around Haverhill can find out when it will be travelling along their nearest high street, through their town square or past their local village shop.
The Torchbearers confirmed to carry the Flame in Haverhill today are: Caroline Maclean (36), Claire Scarff (44), Dingfeng Liang (41), Elodie Lafosse (17), Holly Lambert (12), Isabelle Gower (13), Keith Church (45), Keren Goff (32), Stacey Johnson (20), Ryan Tutthill (15), Xiaodong Du (42).
Only Caroline Maclean and Isabelle Gower have Haverhill as their home town.
Each Torchbearer will wear a white and gold uniform which been designed by adidas.
Sebastian Coe, chair of LOCOG said: "Today we bring the Olympic Torch Relay to life. Now the people know the route the Olympic Flame will be carried along and the torchbearers for their community, they can start planning how they might celebrate and make it Haverhill’s moment to shine."
It is not clear yet what time the torch will come to Haverhill on July 7, which is a Saturday, but it looks likely to be in the afternoon as there are several towns in Essex and Hertfordshire on that day's route.
It comes here from Saffron Walden and then goes on to Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket and finishes the day in Cambridge. It is carried by vehicle between centres.
It will be carried by the torchbearers from the top of Camps Road down to the town centre, along High Street, down Mount Road, along Ehringshausen Way and Lordscroft Lane and then up Wratting Road, returning to vehicle transport on the outskirts of the town.
Children at Burton End Primary School joined with town mayor Cllr Maureen Byrne to celebrate the launch of the route.
Cllr Byrne described the prospect as a bigh day for Haverhill, which would help boost local business, and expressed the hope that large numbers of townspeople would come out to welcome it. [You can see the children and Cllr Byrne in action at the launch by going to Haverhill TV on this site later today]
The Torch will travel 8,000 miles in a relay featuring 8,000 torchbearers.
One of them will be Haverhill’s own Paralympic athlete, Caroline Maclean. Caroline has represented Team GB in wheelchair basketball at the Games in Sydney, Athens and Beijing and will be part of the team at the upcoming Olympics in 2012.
There had previously been suggestions that Caroline would carry the Torch, but not through the Haverhill leg of the relay. However, she will now be carrying the flame through her home town.
Matthew Hancock MP wrote to the organisers LOCOG a fortnight ago, seeking to ensure Caroline’s part in the relay would be through Haverhill.
Commenting on the announcement, Matthew said: "I am delighted that the Olympic authorities have acted with such good sense to ensure Caroline Maclean can carry the Torch through Haverhill.
"Caroline is the town's Olympian, and this decision will be a boost for Caroline and the whole town. I commend all those who have campaigned hard, and now successfully, for this most welcome outcome.
"The torch's trip through Haverhill is recognition that this is a town on the up, and I'm sure it's a day everyone is looking forward to."
Details of the route the Olympic flame will take when it visits Haverhill on Saturday 7 July have been announced, giving residents a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to experience the spectacle locally, regardless of whether they have tickets for the Games.
The route will go through the heart of the town giving people a chance to celebrate the achievements of the inspirational torchbearers carrying the flame whose names are also announced today.
The streets along the torch relay can be viewed in full at www.london2012.com/olympictorchrelay, which gives street-by-street details and proposed start times for when the Olympic Flame will travel through Haverhill.
Residents living in and around Haverhill can find out when it will be travelling along their nearest high street, through their town square or past their local village shop.
The Torchbearers confirmed to carry the Flame in Haverhill today are: Caroline Maclean (36), Claire Scarff (44), Dingfeng Liang (41), Elodie Lafosse (17), Holly Lambert (12), Isabelle Gower (13), Keith Church (45), Keren Goff (32), Stacey Johnson (20), Ryan Tutthill (15), Xiaodong Du (42).
Only Caroline Maclean and Isabelle Gower have Haverhill as their home town.
Each Torchbearer will wear a white and gold uniform which been designed by adidas.
Sebastian Coe, chair of LOCOG said: "Today we bring the Olympic Torch Relay to life. Now the people know the route the Olympic Flame will be carried along and the torchbearers for their community, they can start planning how they might celebrate and make it Haverhill’s moment to shine."
It is not clear yet what time the torch will come to Haverhill on July 7, which is a Saturday, but it looks likely to be in the afternoon as there are several towns in Essex and Hertfordshire on that day's route.
It comes here from Saffron Walden and then goes on to Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket and finishes the day in Cambridge. It is carried by vehicle between centres.
It will be carried by the torchbearers from the top of Camps Road down to the town centre, along High Street, down Mount Road, along Ehringshausen Way and Lordscroft Lane and then up Wratting Road, returning to vehicle transport on the outskirts of the town.
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