Shropshire Olympic torchbearers share joy at relay honour

Torchbearers from across Shropshire and Mid Wales today expressed their delight at being invited to carry the Olympic Flame.

Seventy torchbearer names were announced yesterday by Locog, the organisation behind the London 2012 Olympics, which is taking the torch around the UK on an 8,000-mile route. It will visit Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales.

The oldest torchbearer in Shropshire will be 82-year-old Jackfield historian Ron Miles, who in recent weeks has been given a clean bill of health after fighting bowel cancer.

Mr Miles, a community leader, fundraiser and chiropodist, said he would start training ready for the big day on May 30 when he will carry the flame through Much Wenlock.

He said: "I will have to start getting fit now. I may sound all right but I have some creaking joints so I will do a bit of running."

Mr Miles was diagnosed with bowel cancer last June but has just been given the all- clear after treatment.

He said he was the oldest volunteer with the Ironbridge Museums, having clocked up 44 years helping out at the museums and is also patron of the Jackfield branch of the Royal British Legion.

Samuel Loveitt, 12, from Donnington in Telford, has been chosen to carry the torch through Bewdley on May 24.

The youngster, who goes to William Brookes School in Much Wenlock, was diagnosed with meningitis when he was just six and needed prosthetic limbs fitted after losing part of both his legs.

Zoe Ayton, 17, of Telford, will be carrying the flame through Callow Hill on May 24. Zoe, who is head girl at Abraham Darby Academy, was hailed by principal Steve Hawke. He said: "The single biggest thing about Zoe is that she's a fantastic role model. She is a young lady who has overcome a lot and has a steely determination that nothing is going to get in her way, but at the same time has a warm personality. She is someone it is very hard not to like."

He said Zoe, who lost her mum to cancer just after starting sixth form, was an academic high achiever yet still found time to coach and help organise sport for younger pupils and help run a cub scout pack outside school.

Gareth Polland, 29, from Telford, will be carrying the torch through Broseley on May 30. Aged 19, Gareth was selected to join the British junior volleyball team.

He decided to serve a two-year voluntary mission for his church instead before touring in Iraq for the British Army.

Stuart Watson, 16, from Telford, will be carrying the torch through Cleobury Mortimer on May 24.

Katie Gamston, 19, from near Shifnal, will be carrying the flame through Gnosall on May 30.

And she can thank her teachers for helping her become one of the Olympic Torchbearers. Katie, 19, from Brineton, went to Blessed William Howard, in Stafford.

She was nominated for all the work she has done volunteering for children's clubs and sports clubs as well as her work as a young ambassador for the Stafford and Stone Schools Partnership.

She was also one of five people to take a petition to Downing Street in 2010 calling for no cutbacks in school sport funding.

Katie is currently on a gap year working for the partnership but is due to study dental technology at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Phil Wood, 33, from Bridgnorth, will be carrying the flame through Cressage on May 30. Mr Wood became a principal at chartered accountants Stanton Ralph in Bridgnorth in 2008, and is involved in business development and specialises in owner-managed businesses.

Graham Furber, of Bomere Heath, near Shrewsbury, was nominated by his son. He has been a coach at Wem Cricket Club since the early 1990s and helped found Disability Cricket in 1989. He will be running between Benthall and Broseley on May 30. Mr Furber, 63, said: "For Mr Average it's a great honour."

Special Olympics gold medallist Briony Johnson, 21, from Oswestry, is a badminton player and a member of the North Shropshire Special Olympics club who will carry the torch in Wales on May 27.

Sarah Thomas, 18, from Shrewsbury, cares for her mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and can't wait to carry the torch.

She said: "My parents are very proud and all my friends have been telling me not to accidentally blow the torch out, drop it or trip up, which is good advice."

Rachel Harvey, 39, also from Shrewsbury, said she was 'ridiculously' excited to be chosen after being nominated by a colleague at the town's Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre, where she works as a duty manager, in recognition of her charity work.

Miss Harvey, from Radbrook, has run several long distances races in memory of her brother who died from cancer, including the London Marathon, the Great North Run and Race for Life.

Hilary Banks, 53, of Church Stretton, has been selected three years after suffering a stroke and facing a bleak future. Since then she has bounced back and is preparing to undertake a 10-day trek in Sumatra to raise cash for charity. She has been given the honour of carrying the Olympic flame through Much Wenlock on May 30.

Val Hanover, 67, from Oswestry, will carry the torch in Shrewsbury. She is the chairman of the North Shropshire Special Olympics which provides sporting activities for people with learning difficulties.

Olivia Mackender, known as Livi, 12, from Bridgnorth, has also been chosen to carry the torch. She said: "It has not quite sunk in yet as we only just received official confirmation on Sunday.

"I have had a few difficult years losing important members of my family, and have managed to achieve well at school as a senior prefect, also within my Air Scouts group being the first girl to be invested."

She will cover the Far Forest section on May 24.

Ian Watkins, 55, from Oswestry, will also carry the torch. He a member of Oswestry Olympians who set up a running group in Ellesmere and is involved in football.

Chloe Stanik, 13, of Leominster, has been recognised for her bravery after battling Charcot-Marie tooth disease since the age of seven.

The condition has eaten away at muscles in her leg, making a five-minute walk a major ordeal. She is to take part in Ludlow on May 24.

Jordan Baxter, 20, from Leominster, was asked to carry the torch through the town after raising £10,000 for the Anthony Nolan Trust after his father, Roger, was diagnosed with leukaemia three years ago.

Linda Arthan, 57, of St Martins, near Oswestry, is a supply teacher at The Marches School in Oswestry, where she will carry the torch, and has previously represented Great Britain in the triathlon and taken part in two marathons.

She has worked with young people, inspiring them to take part in sport, and also raised about £2,000 for Gobowen's orthopaedic hospital's spinal injury unit. She said: "It is just ace, it is totally perfect. I am very lucky."

Ian Watkins, 55, from Oswestry, will also carry the torch. He a member of Oswestry Olympians who set up a running group in Ellesmere and is involved in football.

Grandmother Christine Hood, 69, from Eardisland, near Leominster, will fulfil a dream when she carries the torch through Leominster. She was on an Olympic training course aged 22, but the young teacher, who was born in Much Wenlock, decided to follow her heart into voluntary work.

By Andy Richardson