Friday 25 May 2012

Hello everyone,

We’ve been waiting for this week for so long and it hasn’t disappointed! On Tuesday and Wednesday the Olympic Torch Relay passed through seven of our communities and it was an incredibly proud moment for us all.

From Southwick to Royal Wootton Bassett our communities shone, and I’d like to thank everyone who worked hard to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible. From the start we knew marshalling the route was always going to be very important as this is such a high-profile event and millions of people across the world were watching as the torchbearers carried the torch through our county. I’d like to thank our extremely professional staff and volunteers who cleaned our towns, managed the parking issues, marshalled the route and supported the towns and schools to deliver the most incredible and memorable event.

I was delighted to be invited to be part of the lunchtime stop at Clarendon College in Trowbridge on Tuesday. So many young people will have great memories of playing a major part in the Olympic Torch Relay.

I still can’t quite believe the thousands of people who lined the streets to support the torch and were part of showcasing their towns. The weather this week has been beautiful and our towns and communities looked fantastic and each of them had an atmosphere I shall never forget.

We now know what to expect when the torch returns to our county on July 11 and 12.  It’ll be more of the same as communities really embrace the spirit and show quite literally the world just what a great county Wiltshire is and we have another major event with the 2012 Festival of Celebration in Hudson’s Field on July 11 to celebrate the torch’s overnight stay in Salisbury. This will be a fun-packed summer event for the whole family. More acts have been finalised and Bjorn Again is the headline act. If you’ve been watching the Torch Relay evening events you will be aware of the big crowds turning out to watch the LOCOG concerts. We have estimated around 20,000 people and seeing the reaction to the Torch we think this will be about right. We will need a lot of support from many of you for these two days as we want this event and the Torch relay route to be another huge success for Wiltshire.

Even though July 11 and 12 seems a long way off the time will go very quickly and there is still a huge amount of work and planning that needs to be done.  I hope all of you that have been involved in working the events this year have found the experience enjoyable and a good opportunity to work with colleagues in a different environment.

I visited almost all of the towns on the route and had the biggest sense of pride. I was quite choked at how County Hall looked with hundreds of children picnicking and enjoying the entertainment on the lawn. It was great to see the building and grounds being used for the public – that’s how it should be.

I for one am so excited to welcome the Torch back in July and I look forward to seeing many of you as you help to keep our towns safe whilst everyone enjoys this once in a lifetime event.

Jane