The Paralympic Torch Relay will be a six-day event that will begin on August 24 with the London Flame lighting event.

This will be followed by the lighting of the Belfast Flame on August 25, the lighting of the Edinburgh Flame on August 26 and the lighting of the Cardiff Flame on August 27.

On August 28, a special ceremony will then be held called the Stoke Mandeville Flame Festival where the four Flames will be brought together to create the Paralympic Flame at the location were Sir Ludwig Guttmann sowed the seeds for the Paralympic Games back in 1948.

Following the event at Stoke Mandeville, a 24 hour relay will begin that will see the Paralympic Flame taken to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford by 580 Torchbearers for the 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony on August 29.

The Paralympic Torch Relay will be presented by BT, Lloyds TSB and Sainsbury's and once the flames have been lit in the four capital cities, all four will visit local communities and key locations in and around the cities as part of the Flame Festival to be held in each country.


"Day after day our Paralympians show the energy of human endeavour both on and off the sporting field of play," said London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe.

"By lighting the flame, which heralds the start of their competition through the energy of human endeavour, the London 2012 Paralympic Torch Relay is a tribute to their inspirational stories of courage and determination and a celebration of teamwork right across the UK.

"Today we welcome BT, Lloyds TSB and Sainsbury's to the Paralympic Torch Relay team as our Presenting Partners.

"Each of the three organisations has a great history of community involvement and we are thrilled to be working with them to ignite people's excitement ahead of 11 days of fantastic Paralympic sport."

The Flame Festivals will be public events hosted by London 2012 in the four cities and will be available for people of all ages to attend.

Meanwhile, the 580 Torchbearers will work in teams of five to carry the Paralympic Flame from Stoke Mandeville to London for the Opening Ceremony in the 24-hour Torch Relay with details on how the Torchbearers will be selected set to be announced at a later date.

Suzi Williams, BT group marketing and brand director said: "BT has a long history of supporting Paralympic sport in the UK and we're committed to raising the profile of Paralympic sport globally.

"The Paralympic Torch Relay is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in the build-up to the Games and we want to put local communities at the heart of the celebrations."

Sally Hancock, director of 2012 partnership and group sponsorship at Lloyds TSB, said: "The Paralympic Torch Relay provides a wonderful opportunity for everyone to recognise and reward those who have supported and inspired people with disability in their community.

"Following the success of the Lloyds TSB London 2012 Olympic Torchbearer nomination campaign, in which thousands of people nominated someone to carry the Olympic Flame, we are delighted to again extend the invitation to people across the UK to nominate someone to be part of a Torchbearer team in the Paralympic Torch Relay."

Jat Sahota, head of Sponsorship at Sainsbury's added: "Now that the Paralympic Torch Relay plans have been unveiled, the countdown to the Games has really started.

"This is going to be a fantastic event and we will be giving our colleagues and customers the chance to get involved in the Paralympic Torch Relay over the coming months."

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