Post Olympics presentation – Olympic Torch: Local experiences and recollections and images of the Games
Paul Cowell, Events, Film and 2012 Manager
Councillor Veronica Ward, Cabinet member for culture, leisure, sport, the Olympics and Regeneration
Minutes:
Councillor Veronica Ward, Cabinet member for culture, leisure, sport, the Olympics and Regeneration (South), said the Olympics and Paralympics (the Games) had made it a fantastic summer. This included the torch relay through Camberwell. She paid tribute to the many volunteers who had given up their time and commented that the communications to residents through the Get Set bulletins had proved very effective.
Paul Cowell, Events, Film and 2012 Manager presented a slide show of images taken during the Games. An estimated 161,000 saw some of the Olympic torch relay route in Southwark. There was an inflatable Stonehenge in Burgess Park, which was a piece of art in the form of a giant bouncy castle on which 3,000 people had played. The Elephant & the Nun was a series of events involving brass bands, street theatre and cooking. In all around 21,000 young people took part in activities over an eight-week period surrounding the Games.
Elaine Walters, Principal Young People's Librarian, introduced Southwark’s Olympic poem. The idea behind it was to capture the spirit of the Games via a poem written and presented by young people. There were four local secondary schools involved along with several open library sessions. More than one hundred young people had participated in the project. The DVD of the poem performed by local young people was played to the meeting.
Sharon Coleman, Olympic torchbearer, gave an account of her relay leg with the torch on 26 July 2012, ahead of the Games. She had been nominated for the role, after taking legal action on behalf of her disabled son all the way to the European Court of Justice. Sharon explained that on the day of the torch relay, the roads were packed with people cheering. The torch she ran with had subsequently helped to raise £4,500 for charity.