A burning desire for Olympics (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

A burning desire for Olympics

12:00pm Sunday 8th April 2012 in Calne

The Calne Games torch was given a bumpy ride as it made its way from Heddington to Cherhill on horseback.

The torch is being passed around the 10 primary schools in and around the town as part of the build-up to Calne Games, an Olympic-style event for children.

Last week it began its journey at St Nicholas School, Bromham, before staff and pupils walked with it to Heddington, completing the Sport Relief Mile en route.

Heddington head teacher Tracey Dunn said she wanted to give the torch the send-off it deserved.

She said: “It was amazing. One of the parents and her son took it to Cherhill on horseback. We were thinking about what to do with it because St Nicholas brought the whole school to us last week.

“Cherhill is quite a distance from Heddington. It is too far to walk or cycle and straight along a main road. Someone suggested doing it on horseback and we thought ‘yeah, why not’.”

Several of the parents of children at the school are horse riders and they found willing volunteers in Year 4 pupil Oliver Ring and his mum Ann, with their horses Charlie and Zippy.

Mrs Dunn said: “The two of them went on their horses with the torch, while I followed behind with our team leaders.

“Then we all met up at Cherhill School and the horses went into the playground so the children could see them. The whole of the school was out to greet us, and our children handed over the torch to their head boy and girl.

“We feel passing the torch around is so important, so we wanted to make sure we gave it the send-off it deserved. Everyone has worked so hard to get the Calne Games organised. It is important to value that as well.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for children. It seemed fitting to get the horses involved as they are part of the Olympics too.”