Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay Baton
Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay Baton

Public invited to cheer on inspirational Batonbearers as they run through town

The Birmingham 2022 Queen’s Baton Relay reaches Tonbridge on Thursday 7 July when the first of five Batonbearers will receive the Baton in Tonbridge High Street at 9:30am.  The Relay will continue along the High Street to Tonbridge Castle, where a thousand school children will be waiting with flags to cheer it on its way.

The children, from a number of schools across the borough, will join together on the castle lawn to welcome the Baton in a schools-only event which includes an exercise session led by tmactive, performances on stage by some of the children, photos of each school with the Baton, and an address by the Mayor of Tonbridge and Malling, Sue Bell.

The Batonbearers will each carry the baton for a stage of its journey through Tonbridge. They are:

  • Fil Kamps from Maidstone. Fil played in deaf football leagues at a national and international level.  In 2018 he was forced to retire from football due to injury since when he has focused on his work as a motivational speaker and life coach.
  • Chidi Ikediashi from Gravesend. Chidi has been a member of Gravesham’s Youth Council for three years and has been involved in tackling climate change, improving mental health services and transport.
  • Karen Pickering from East Grinstead. Karen is a former GB Olympic freestyle swimmer. She was a member of the British swimming squad from 1986 to 2005 and won eight World Championship medals and three medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
  • Courtney Hughes BEM BCAv from Didcot. In 2012 at the age of 13, Courtney founded a charity to support lonely and isolated people at Christmas. Since then her charity has gifted over 95,000 items to the community.
  • Andy Pickering from Leatherhead. Andy is part of Royal Mail Team helping transport the Queens Baton around Commonwealth. He also leads a project delivering relief to Ukraine.

The High Street will be closed from 9:30am to allow residents and supporters to gather and cheer the progress of the Baton to the Castle.

Batonbearer, Fil Kamps, an elite deaf football player who has competed in a World Cup, the Deaflympics and four Champions League campaigns, said:

‘It’s a huge honour to have been selected to carry the Commonwealth Baton and an experience I’m looking forward to immensely! Throughout my sporting career I was fortunate to compete in some major sporting events such as the World Cup and Deaflympics, but whether it was playing at the local park with friends or in a stadium in front of 15 thousand fans, football and sport more widely has always been something that brings people together. It unites people from different walks of life, to pull in the same direction, to build new skills and to aspire to achieve more; I’ve no doubt that the Baton Relay and the Commonwealth games will do the same.’

Cllr Des Keers, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s lead cabinet member for community, said: ‘We’re looking forward to an exciting morning on Thursday, with so many of our schoolchildren joining in this wonderful event. I look forward to seeing many people supporting and cheering on the inspirational Batonbearers as they undertake the Tonbridge leg of their momentous journey around the Commonwealth.’

Published: Tuesday, 5th July 2022