Friday 13 July 2012

Well what can I say about this week’s wonderful events?

It has been a time of real celebration for our county. The Olympic Torch revisited Wiltshire on Wednesday coming into Ludgershall and was carried through the south of the county arriving to a crowd of over 30,000 at Hudson’s Field in the evening where the 2012 Festival of Celebration was well underway. Yesterday morning at sunrise, I was fortunate enough to see a real moment in history when the world renowned Olympic 400m sprinter Michael Johnson held the Olympic Torch at the iconic Stonehenge monument.

Then there was real excitement and large crowds at Salisbury Cathedral to see Michael start the torch route through Salisbury as it made its way out of our county through Wilton and our beautiful villages of Barford St Martin, Fovant and Ludwell into Dorset.

The atmosphere over the two days was overwhelming as thousands of people in our  local communities gathered to celebrate and welcome the Torch and I felt so proud to be a part of this. It was a once in a lifetime event and we made it both memorable and successful.  I would also like to personally thank all of you who stayed in our offices and delivered excellent services while so many of your colleagues were taken out to work on these events.

The torch went through the county without delay or incident and the weather was amazing! The sun shone for us and so did our hundreds of marshals who were true ambassadors for the council supporting the towns and villages and keeping the spectators safe and ensuring they enjoyed the occasion. I really enjoyed the opportunity to speak to so many of you on the route.

The Festival of Celebration at Hudson’s Field started at 7am with a business breakfast for over 200 guests and ended at 10.30pm with the most spectacular firework display choreographed to music. The day was a huge success and I really cannot express my thanks enough to each and every one of you who had a role in making all of these events so successful.

I am aware many of you worked until very late on Wednesday night and were out on the route by 6am yesterday and I am very appreciative and hope that you will all rest this weekend and take a pride in being part of this extraordinary time and these unique and special events.

My heartfelt thanks,

Jane