Celebrations to mark the handover from Beijing to London for the 2012 Olympic Games were held at Lowestoft and Southwold on Sunday. Olympic flags were raised at both Lowestoft and Southwold seafront at 2.30 pm to coincide with events taking place around the UK and the official handover in London.



Waveney’s Olympic flags were two of only around 500 flags to be delivered to locations including HM Armed Forces, embassies around the world, city halls, British Council Offices and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices.

At Lowestoft, Councillor George Hawes, Chairman of Waveney District Council and John Pawsey, Chairman of the Active Waveney Sports Partnership and Waveney Gymnastics Club, joined Lowestoft Town Mayor, Frank Mortimer and WDC officers to raise the flag.

Councillor Hawes said “Celebrating the Olympic handover is an honour for the district of Waveney. We must now support the Active Waveney Sports Partnership and all the potential Olympians that live and train in our area and we hope we will be seeing them in Team GB in 2012.”

Lowestoft Town Mayor, Frank Mortimer added “The Olympics is about partnership and of course friendship through sport and I hope that the 2012 Olympics inspires more of our population to become more physically active and involved in the broad range of sporting opportunities available in our town.”

John Pawsey, Chairman of the Active Waveney Sports Partnership said “Let us all pull together to consider coming to Waveney to enjoy the hospitality of our community, experience the sites and cultures we can offer through the Broads, beaches and other attractions and make use of facilities like the gymnastics centre, which is recognised as one of the best in the country.

We must not lose the chance to promote greater participation in sport and therefore we have an ideal opportunity to raise the profile of Waveney over the next four years leading up to London 2012.”



The Southwold event saw Southwold Town Mayor, Teresa Baggott and Councillor Wendy Mawer, Waveney’s Portfolio Holder for Regeneration address the crowd gathered before raising the flag together. There was local support from cultural stakeholders, Active Waveney Sports Partnership representatives and WDC officers were also on hand.

Councillor Wendy Mawer expressed her delight in celebrating the Olympic handover as someone who firmly supports the wealth of young sporting talent in Waveney. Councillor Mawer said:” On the back of the country’s current Olympic success, we are really proud to be able to fly the flag at Lowestoft and Southwold to celebrate the beginning of four exciting years”.

Mayor Baggott looked forward to the opportunities for local businesses to benefit from the lead up to the Olympics.

The Olympic flags will be flying at Lowestoft and Southwold beach until 23 September.

For further information on London 2012, contact Asa Morrison, Principal Service Manager – Culture, Tourism & Sport on 01502 523332.

For more details about the Active Waveney Sports Partnership, contact Claire Henwood, Service Manager – Sports & Leisure Development on 01502 523010.