Welcoming the Torch Relay

The seventy days leading up to the opening of the Games sees the Olympic flame run the length and breadth of the UK – in a massive cavalcade involving a team of 8,000 torchbearers.

This Torch Relay will stop morning and evening at 140 communities, weaving its way through many more. As a result, most of the population will be in travelling distance of this great spectacle.

The Torch Relay can link churches with their communities

Each community where the Torch Relay stops is expected by the organising committee of London 2012 to give it a spectacular welcome. This could involve entertainment, shows and concerts with a local flavour.

Most authorities will welcome the help of churches including through –

• Creative and performing arts – using their own talent or bringing it in from outside the area
• Hospitality - including being part of the One Million Cups of Water programme
• Volunteers – from crowd control to specialist advice and help

The Torch Relay is an opportunity for prayer

More Than Gold is organising a 70 day cascade of prayer as the Olympic Torch Relay passes between communities. For a pdf with more details click here. Plans for the Paralympic Torch Relay will be announced in May.

Where will the Torch Relay go?

For the full list of the communities through which the Torch will pass and where it will stop overnight click here. .

Helping churches get ready

To help churches get ready for the Torch visiting or passing through their community, there is –

• A handbook of ideas as a free resource, in partnership with TraidCraft, showing what churches can do regardless of whether their village, town or city is a major stop or just on the route. Request it free at www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/churcheventpack
• A local task force in each town where the Torch is to stop to help run community events that support the official celebrations. Those interested should contact us at torch@morethangold.org.uk
• With an eye on the issue of social justice, a fair-trade Hospitality Kit will be available for churches to buy 

Download a pdf on the Torch Relay here.