Battle gets into the Olympic spirit

Partnership chairman Margaret Leicester welcomed visitors from a wide range of sporting, cultural, educational and community groups.

Kathryn Field introduced a presentation setting out the Partnership's wide-ranging ideas which hope to encourage local groups to stage special events in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

While the Partnership hopes that each organisation will generate its own ideas, it was suggested that these could include special sporting competitions - with beach volleyball on the Abbey Green a popular suggestion - demonstration sports, and some of the sports included in earlier Olympics, such as the standing high jump, and tug of war.

Cultural activities could take sports, the community or the Olympics as their inspiration, perhaps including photography, poetry, music and dance, film and painting, many of which featured as competitions in earlier Olympics.

The Partnership hopes Battle can provide a focal point for activities involving all the surrounding villages, and the group also wants disability groups to get involved. Claverham Community College assistant principal Danny Ockmore outlined the schools ambitious plans to stage a week-long series of sports competitions and taster events involving all the local schools.

Mike Dawes, chairman of the organising committee, was very impressed with the turn out and the enthusiasm displayed at the event.

He said: "Battle and the surrounding villages are always keen to get together and celebrate the wonderful community we are privileged to live in.

"There was a real willingness to get involved, and I am sure we will be able to get an excellent programme of events together to celebrate this historic summer."