Bolt to light up Anniversary Games

The world's biggest athletics superstar, Usain Bolt, will lead a stellar global cast at the re-opening of the London Olympic Stadium on Friday 24th July.

Fans are expected to flock to the stadium to relive memories of 2012, as the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games deliver the best of the Olympics and Paralympics in three days of action-packed athletics.

The cast for the reopening of the stadium following its conversion features Bolt, Team GB's Super Saturday stars Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill, world record holder and London Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha and more than a dozen world or Olympic champions.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'The opening night of the Anniversary Games has attracted the strongest field ever assembled for a single night of athletics, providing Londoners with another 'I was there' moment. The chance to see a living legend like Bolt is very rare and we are delighted to be able to welcome him to the reopening of the stadium where he so thrilled us all at the 2012 Games.'
"It is a beginning of a new chapter for the Stadium and there will be many more amazing nights to come - it is wonderful that we are starting in such style".

Bolt - considered to be one of the greatest sportsmen of all time last competed individually in the UK at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games in 2013 where he won the 100m in 9.85 seconds.

The 100m and 200m world record holder, winner of six Olympic and eight world titles is looking forward to returning to the scene of his spectacular Olympic triumphs.

Bolt said: "London is a special place where I love to compete and I am looking forward to the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games on July 24.

"I have great memories of competing in the Olympic Stadium in the summer of 2012 and in the previous Grand Prix meets in London.

"The British fans are always great and I expect there will also be a lot of Jamaican fans in the stadium. It will be amazing to put on another great show for them under the floodlights on the Friday night."

The Sainsbury's Anniversary Games includes a two-day Diamond League meeting on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th July, with the Sainsbury's IPC Athletics Grand Prix Final taking place on Sunday 26th July.
The event takes place just four weeks before the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Beijing and will be the final time the original London 2012 track is used, before a new surface is laid for the London 2017 World Championships.

British Athletics have secured the right to host athletics in the former Olympic Stadium for one month every year for the next 50 years from 2016.

WIGGINS TOPS THE BILL AT CLASSIC

The legendary Sir Bradley Wiggins, Britain’s most decorated cyclist, will line up on the start line of the third Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic on Sunday 2 August, part of the Mayor of London’s annual festival of cycling.

 

It will be Wiggins’ first race on UK roads following his sensational performance at the Olympic velodrome earlier this month, when he set a new UCI World Hour Record of 54.526km.The winner of the 2012 Tour de France, four-time Olympic gold medallist and six-time track world champion will lead out his newly-formed team WIGGINS. 

 

Twenty-five teams of six riders will contest the 200km race, which this year starts on Horse Guards Parade in St James’s Park and offers the world’s largest prize fund for a one-day race. Also confirmed is Mark Cavendish - the Manx Missile - and his Etixx – Quick-Step team. BBC Sport will televise the race live, with coverage distributed worldwide.

 

“It’s always fantastic to race on home roads and this race is very special,” said Wiggins. “My team is really looking forward to it. I was amazed how many people were out watching last year in that appalling weather. The whole Prudential RideLondon festival shows how much cycling has grown in this country.”

 

“Every race wants Wiggins,” said Mick Bennett, Race Director of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic. “He now has rock star status and generates massive excitement wherever he races. We expect hundreds of thousands of spectators to line the route to cheer him on. His team is packed with great athletes likely to feature in the Team Pursuit in the Rio Games next year and they should perform well in a race of this nature.”

 

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Huge crowds will once again line the capital’s streets this August to roar on some of the world's top cyclists. I’m sure British fans will be shouting even louder at the sight of former Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins shooting past our grand landmarks.

 

“London continues to showcase its ability to host world-leading sporting and cultural events, and Prudential RideLondon is yet another one of our superb showpieces that helps to attract tourists, drive the economy and inspire people of all ages and backgrounds on to their bikes. It’s a festival of cycling that caters for everyone, whether you are a top professional, a committed daily commuter who loves riding their bike or a family looking forward to a leisurely day’s cycling along some of the capital’s most famous streets.”

 

Richard Walsh, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Localities and Community Wellbeing, said: “Sir Bradley is a cycling superstar so we can expect huge crowds on the route in Surrey again – and perhaps he will inspire a future icon of the road to emulate his incredible achievements on the bike.”

 

The third edition of the race, rated Category 1.HC on the UCI Europe Tour, will start at the iconic location of Horse Guards Parade in central London before going out through the capital to Kingston upon Thames, Hampton Court and then over the River Thames into Surrey. After 57km of racing, the first challenge the riders will face is the 2.4km climb of Staple Lane in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

 

The peloton will then race through Dorking before taking the southern approach to the ascent of Leith Hill, the highest point in Surrey. With a further three circuits (one more than last year) of a loop through Dorking and up the testing 6.7 per cent climb to Ranmore Common, this year’s race is set to be a true classic. 

 

 

The riders will then race up the famous zigzags of Box Hill, through Leatherhead, Oxshott and Esher before returning back through Kingston upon Thames. From there the peloton heads towards central London, through Raynes Park, Wimbledon, over Putney Bridge and alongside the River Thames through Chelsea. The closing stages of the race go through Parliament Square and up Whitehall to the famous 1km to go marker from Trafalgar Square through Admiralty Arch, where the riders will start the final sprint along The Mall towards Buckingham Palace and the finish line.

 

The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic is the fifth and final event of Prudential RideLondon, the world’s greatest festival of cycling. More than 95,000 riders will participate in the five events over the weekend of 1-2 August.

           

Fat Buddha helps St. Cuthbert's with 'Dine and Donate' fundraising

 

Diners in a Durham restaurant not only had a good time but raised money for one of the City charities during a 'Dine and Donate' deal during May.

 

Fat Buddha Durham, in the Walkergate area of the City centre, got together with St. Cuthbert's Hospice to raise money during May.

Bob Senior and Kay Welsh toast a successful 'Dine and Donate' month

 

 

During the month customers of the Durham based Asian bar and kitchen were offered the ' Early Buddha' menu that would donate five pounds to the Hospice.  Some 175 people took up the offer of great food and adding to the funds of a very well respected local charity.

 

" The hospice has done a great job for the people surrounding the City for years and we were looking at some way to help them.  Not only did the diners have a delightful meal in great surroundings but they also helped to raise money and awareness of the work that St. Cuthbert's does." said Managing Director of Fat Buddha Bob Senior.

 

Fat Buddha has been in Durham for over eight years and now has a sister restaurant in Newcastle with another in Sunderland opening during the summer.

 

Kay Welsh, Senior Donor Development Fundraiser  at the Hospice was delighted to collect the cheque from the restaurant fro £875:

 

“We are grateful to each and every one of the diners who came along to Fat Buddha and helped raise this money. Of course we’d also like to thank Bob and his staff for thinking of us in this way. It created great interest as well as much needed funds. Fat Buddha served us up a treat.”

 

 

Staff ready for the ' Big Day' of Mod and ska music

 
Stanley Events, the organisers of this May Bank Holiday music festival in Chester le Street, are making sure that the event goes off safely and smoothly thanks to training and employing their own group of stewards.

"An event is only as good as the people who work on it. To make sure that the customers have an enjoyable, safe time the company has trained it own people to the highest of standards." said Anna Marshall who has overseen the training

Indeed, since it started operating over three years ago, Stanley Events has trained over 60 staff to work at their events. These people have continued to work for the company as event stewards and SIA staff at their festivals.

" Because of the scale of this years event, with bands starting at noon and music going on until late into the evening, we have trained another 12 new staff members to add to our pool of reliable, hard working staff." Said Anna

One of the staff making a welcome return is 18 year old Lewis Christie who has gained extra work since gaining his qualifications with the company:

"When I got my NVQ in stewarding and spectator safety with Stanley Events, it gave me the confidence to go and look for work where I could use my news skills.  For the past two years I have been working at St. James' Park on all home games. It is really good work so any opportunity, like the Riverside live event that I can be a part of I am always ready for."

Riverside Live will see headline bands from the Mod and Ska era such as 'From The Jam' The Lambrettas' and The Selecter' taking to the stage at the latter part of the day with local bands kicking things off from noon on Sunday 24 May.

"Staff employed for Stanley Events have undertaken a range of training including: Level 2 Award in Understanding Stewarding at Spectator Events and Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Stewarding at Spectator Events. Some have also went on to complete SIA door supervision training.
Not only has this have them the required qualifications to work on a big event such as the Riverside Live but also a lot of our previous trained staff have went on to other similar work around the region." said Anna

Riverside live Mod and Ska music festival is on May 24 at the Chester le Street riverside with doors opening at 11.30 and the first band at noon. There are still some tickets left at £35 from http://www.riversidelive.org/home.htm

Stanley Events will also be making private donations from festival profits to Three charities: The national charity Help For Heroes as well as two local charities St. Cuthbert's Hospice based in Durham City and Chester Le Street Mind.

 

Top restaurant teams up with Hospice to make May 'Donate while you Dine' month

Durham's Fat Buddha Restaurant is making sure that May is the month when the local hospice fundraising gets an extra top up with 'Donate while you Dine' 

The Walkergate based eatery has teamed up with St. Cuthbert's Hospice to offer a deal on the 'Early Buddha' menu that will see each order donate to the charity:

 " We spoke to the Hospice about how we could help in a practical way" said Bob Senior, Fat Buddha Chief Executive, "and we come up with a way that will work throughout the month and hopefully help with much needed funding for a really great cause."

"Anyone coming into the Durham restaurant can simply opt for selection from the  'Early Buddha' menu.  This is the menu on between 5pm and 7pm Sunday until Friday so is ideal for after work eating or an early dinner with the family.  £5 from the price of the adult selection goes to the hospice."

Kay Welsh,  Senior Donor Development Fundraiser for the Durham City based hospice is delight with the offer:

"We would like to thank Bob and everyone at fat Buddha in Durham for supporting St. Cuthbert's Hospice.  May is a really important fundraising month for us as we prepare for our new summer paint event, 'Colourama' on June 6 and fat Buddha are helping as much as they can."

Restaurant 'signs off' Mayor with new menu fayre

The Mayor of the City of Durham, Cllr John Robinson was invited to The Court Inn, in the City, to sample the new menu of local produce recently as one of his last official duties.

The Mayor with wife Maxine, was on one of his last engagements as his tenure finishes during May, who along with other invited guests sampled the new menu that has been put together with as much local produce as possible.

 

 
The Mayor said about his year in office:

"The year has flown by!  The people I have met and the projects I have seen across the whole of the County have been just amazing.  One reason I was happy to come and see Trevor and what he has put on his menu is that he is a champion of local produce, something I have always encouraged and supported."

Trevor Davis, who has run the Court Inn for just under two years now, was really happy to see John as guest of honour at the launch:

"The Mayor has been here before and was very encouraging when he found out that I was planning an 'all local' menu and promised me he would come down when it was complete.  And good to his word he was quick to reply when the invite went out."

 

He continued, " The new menu caters for a wide range of tastes and is sources as local as we possibly can."

Scooter Club snap up last of the bargain tickets

 

Mod music lovers and scooter rides from across the region will be descending on the Riverside in Chester le Street at the end of the month to bask in a full day of music.

With headline bands such as 'From the Jam' The Lambrettas' and The Selector' the day is sure to be a nostalgic festival for those who remember the late 70's and early 80's music as a background to their youth.

 

"We have some top class bands from that era and we also have some cracking local bands that play ska / mod music so the whole day will be a true festival of that time in music." said Carl Marshall from the organisers, Stanley Events.

"Tickets have sold very well so the atmosphere will be great with old and new fans of the bands coming along to see the tracks they know so well performed live."

 
Durham County Scooter Club came down 'on mass' to collect their tickets and could not be happier with the bands on at the event. Paul Buglass, one of the group, is particularly looking forward to seeing one of the bands:

" I have been a 'Lambrettas' fan for a long time now and they don't really tour that much.  To see them on the same stage as the other bands from the era is going to be a great day and we are al looking forward to the day.  To top it all, having them all on our doorstep is just fantastic!"

" Durham County Scooter Club are just one of a host of scooter clubs who have taken an interest in the festival. We are sure to see many a colourful scooter here in Chester le Street from across the region."said Carl

 
Tickets for the May 24th festival can be bought from the website www.riversidelive.org/home.html