Queen’s baton to tour the Black Country
THE Queen’s baton will pass through the Black Country on its way to the XXII Commonwealth Games in Birmingham that start on July 28.
The relay began at Buckingham Palace on October 7, 2021, and the baton will visit all 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth. The first stop was Cyprus and after touring the world the baton will be taken to the Falkland Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man in early June before returning to the UK. It then takes in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England and in its final days it will pass through our own region.
On Saturday, July 23, the Queen’s baton will be carried through Hednesford, Cannock and Walsall. Then on Sunday, July 24, it will be in Wolverhampton, Halesowen, Stourbridge, Dudley and Brierley Hill.
Monday, July 25, sees the baton spend the entire day in Sandwell, being relayed through Oldbury, Wednesbury, Tipton, Cradley Heath, Rowley Regis, Blackheath, Bearwood, Smethwick and West Bromwich, before heading off to Birmingham for the final days of the relay.
The full itinerary of the baton’s route through the Black Country will be released in the coming days but some details are already available. On Sunday, July 24, the baton will visit several locations in Dudley Borough, including the Waterfront at Brierley Hill, the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley Zoo and Castle, the Halesowen Fun Run, Mary Stevens Park in Stourbridge, and the Red House Glass Cone at Wordsley. Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said: “The Queen’s Baton Relay will be a once-ina-lifetime event for Dudley. We’re immensely proud to welcome the Queen’s Baton to our borough after its long journey across the globe. “We’re organising a number of events where our residents will be able to see the Baton and get involved in the build-up to the Commonwealth Games.” There will be 100 baton-bearers running through the streets and parks of Sandwell on Sunday, July 24, including some who will take on the mammoth uphill leg up Waterfall Lane. A range of activities will be held around each part of the relay in Sandwell. The relay starts from Sandwell Council House, Oldbury, just
The Queen’s Baton will visit all 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth before making its way to Birmingham
after 8am, then visits Brunswick Park in Wednesbury, Tipton’s Victoria Park, Haden Hill House and Park in Cradley Heath, the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, at Smethwick, then Lightwoods Park,in Bearwood before ending at Sandwell Valley Country Park in West Bromwich at around 6.30pm.
Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, Leader of Sandwell Council, said: “The people of Sandwell are excited and honoured that our borough is hosting the swimming and diving events at the new Sandwell Aquatics Centre as part of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and we look forward to the Queen’s Baton Relay taking place in the six towns. It will bring the buzz of the Games to Sandwell and link us to communities across the Commonwealth.
“The Relay is a Games’ tradition that recognises, connects and celebrates communities across the Commonwealth and it is appropriate that one of the venues the baton will visit is Brunswick Park, which opened in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.
“I would encourage the people of Sandwell to welcome and support the arrival of the baton, and to be inspired by the backgrounds and stories of the batonbearers from across the Commonwealth and here in Sandwell.”
Among the many batonbearers who will take the relay through the Black Country will be Suzy Richards and her son Owen, who survied the terrorist gun attack in Tunisia in 2015 but lost three members of their family. They set up Smile For Joel, a charity aimed at fundraising for victim support to help families suffering after losing a loved one to homicide.
Another batonbearer is Sgt Adam Sefton, a recruiter with the B Squadron Royal Yeomanry from Dudley, nominated for his efforts to train and support army reservists, as well as his campaigning work for mental health charities.
Black Country legend Dave Heeley is another batonbearer. “Blind Dave” has raised more than £3 million for various charities through long distance endurance running and cycling and in 2020 he was awarded an OBE for services to charitable fundraising.