Charnwood Borough Council - Leading in Leicestershire

THE Olympic Handover Flag is to fly in Charnwood as part of a landmark ceremony to celebrate London becoming the official host city of the 2012 Games.

Charnwood Borough Council is taking part in the nationwide event on Sunday, August 24 when the iconic handover flags will be simultaneously flown at around 500 venues across the country.

It is the first event of its kind in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will coincide with the closing ceremony of the Beijing Games.

The Handover Flag will be paraded through Loughborough Town Centre by young apprentices from Loughborough College during the popular Mela event before it is raised by the Mayor of Charnwood, Cllr Stephen Campbell, and Cllr Peter Lewis, Charnwood’s Cabinet member for Leisure, at the Town Hall at 4pm.

Charnwood Sports Council members and people who have received Talent Support Grants from the Borough Council’s funding scheme Charnwood Grants will also be attending the event.

Cllr Lewis said: “Let us hope that the excitement of the Beijing Olympics will not diminish but serve as a spur for our young people in particular to achieve excellence.

“There is nothing wrong with excellence. Quantity is no substitute for it. While we like lots of people to be doing new things, let’s aim for gold!”

As part of the celebrations, a mini-Olympics event will be held for five to nine-year-olds in Southfields Park between 10am and 12pm on Saturday (August 23rd).

And there will be the opportunity to meet the Wild Card mascot, Charny, during the Mela event before the Olympic flag is raised.

A fun day will also be held at Soar Valley Leisure Centre on Monday, August 25, when families can go along and take part in a wide-range of activities and see what’s on offer at the Mountsorrel-based venue.

Sebastian Coe, the Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: “When the Mayor of London accepts the Olympic Flag on August 24, the eyes of the world will turn to London and the UK as the next summer host city.

“It is a very important and exciting moment for us and we want as many people as possible to join in the handover celebrations.

“We are delighted that so many local authorities share our excitement and are proudly displaying the Olympic Handover Flag to mark this very special moment on our journey to 2012.”

To find out more about the London 2012 Olympics, log on to on to www.london2012.com