Stroll: Discovery Trails
As part of the Mayor of London Presents programme of free cultural events and activities for the 2012 Games, Stroll will take participants through different cityscapes and past tourist attractions around the capital.
The six unique discovery trails have been developed with the aim of encouraging Londoners and tourists alike to explore the city on foot. Their guides will be 84 official Olympic and Paralympic Mascot sculptures located at iconic locations and other spots, including in central London, the City, east London and south of the river. Each sculpture of Wenlock and Mandeville will be around 2m in height and individually and colourfully designed, corresponding to their immediate surroundings and capturing an element of London life.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: ‘We’re putting on an unprecedented variety of free events and other activities across the city to add to the magic of the Games. As instantly recognisable figures, Wenlock and Mandeville are eminently suitable guides for Londoners and tourists alike wanting to discover more about this incredible city and to experience a summer like no other.’ The GLA is working with the relevant boroughs to create the six Stroll discovery trails. They will feature on a Host City Map, which will also be available at Team London Ambassador Pods, in underground stations and at tourist information centres. More information about Stroll will be released in due course, with the first mascots due to be in place in July.
For more information and to sign up for updates about the Mayor of London Presents programme go to www.molpresents.com.
Notes
1. The Mayor of London is hosting a huge programme of free events and cultural activities to add to the excitement of 2012. Working with outstanding international artists and world class cultural organisations this unprecedented Mayor of London Presents programme is taking place in every corner of the capital to add to and complement the London 2012 Festival. It includes Secrets: Hidden London, with artists and performers transforming hidden and lesser known locations; Showtime, the largest outdoor arts festival ever seen in the capital, with dozens of electrifying artists from the UK and abroad coming to every borough, in high streets, parks and town centres; BT London Live, bringing live action from the Games, as well as sporting activities and entertainment to Hyde Park, Victoria Park and Trafalgar Square; and Surprises bringing pop-up performances and once in a lifetime experiences to locations familiar and unusual, above your heads and atop landmark buildings. To be the first to know what’s happening in this Summer Like No Other , sign up or follow us at:
www.molpresents.com
www.facebook.com/mayoroflondonpresents
www.twitter.com/molpresents.
2. The Stroll mascots are set to be auctioned after the Games to raise money for the Mayor’s Fund.
3. Wenlock and Mandeville appear on learning resources available to teachers through the London 2012 Education programme ‘Get Set’ and the costume characters have together made hundreds of appearances across the UK. People have ‘customised’ their own version of the mascots as just one of the interactive mascot games on the mascot website and can follow Wenlock and Mandeville on their Twitter and Facebook pages. They also feature on over 25% of official London 2012 products. Visit www.london2012.com/mascots for more details.
4. The mascots were created from the last drops of steel left over from the construction of the final support girder for the Olympic Stadium. Their names reflect the UK’s rich Olympic and Paralympic histories. Wenlock’s name is inspired by the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock where the ‘Wenlock Games’ was one of the inspirations that led the founder of the modern Olympic movement Baron Pierre de Coubertin to create the Olympic Games. Mandeville’s name is inspired by Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire. In the 1940s, Dr.Ludwig Guttmann came to Stoke Mandeville Hospital to set up a new spinal unit to help former soldiers suffering from spinal cord injuries. Looking for ways to inspire those in his care, he encouraged them to take up sport, leading to the formation of the Stoke Mandeville Games, widely recognised as a forerunner of the modern Paralympic movement.