Torch tour

AN OLYMPIC torch tour is coming to Weymouth seafront next week. The interactive roadshow will be stopping off in the borough on Friday July 29 from 10am until 4pm. The Lloyds TSB London 2012 Olympic Torch Tour aims to bring the excitement of the Olympic Torch Relay to local communities across the United Kingdom.

Residents and visitors can have their photo taken with the prototype London 2012 Olympic Torch, learn about the history of the Relay, meet their Lloyds TSB Local Hero, play interactive games and nominate someone who has made a difference in their local community to carry the Olympic flame in the Torch Relay in 2012.

For while the London Organising Committee’s nomination process has now closed, as National Presenting Partner for the Games, Lloyds TSB is offering extra opportunities for people to be torch bearers.

Online nominations can be made online at lloydstsb.com/carrytheflame until 12 September 2011 and selected torchbearers will be announced from January 2012.

Visitors

THE world is coming, get ready. Weymouth and Portland is expected to be inundated with visitors from July 29 to September 6 next year as everyone gathers to share the ‘vibe’ of hosting 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing events.

Residents are being urged by the Olympic Delivery Authority to make changes to the way they travel. To find out more about transport during the Games visit dorsetforyou.com/london2012

Nothe Gardens

COUNCILLORS will be meeting to discuss the proposed ticketed spectator site at Nothe Gardens next week. The planning committee of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council on Wednesday July 27 is expected to make a decision on whether the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) can erect temporary structures on the site to run the proposed ticketed event.

As landowners of the site, the borough council has given the go-ahead for LOCOG to look into the possibility of managing 4,600 visitors a day to the site.

But LOCOG must secure planning approval to construct temporary structures such as fencing and toilets in order to run the ticketed venue. Elsewhere in the borough, a free Live Site will also be held at Weymouth Beach, where members of the public will be able to enjoy live coverage and soak up the atmosphere.

The first steps

WEYMOUTH quantity surveyor Jason Hickson will be getting a cast made of his feet at St Pancras International as part of London’s one-year to go Olympic celebrations.

Mr Hickson, 41, who works for Midas Retail and is currently in Weymouth working full-time on a construction job, will join Olympic athletes and 2012 chairman Lord Coe from across Europe at a star-studded day on July 27.

He is among 20 Eurostar winners chosen to have a cast of their feet made at St Pancras International, representing the first steps of a Games spectator on the way to London 2012.

As the Official International Rail Services Provider to London 2012, Eurostar will bring hundreds of thousands of sports fans from the continent to London. Visit: www.eurostar.com/london2012

Knowles is in

THE GB Rowing Team has named a rower from Dorset in its squad for the World Championships – which double as qualifying for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Alison Knowles will race at the Worlds in Bled, Slovenia, from August 28 to September 4, to try and qualify women’s eight for London next summer.