Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Gibraltar set for Wednesday
Photo by Stephen Ignacio
The 2024 Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Gibraltar (LETRSOG) will this year take place this Wednesday at 3pm conjunction with the opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics National Game held at Lathbury Sports Complex.
This year, the ‘Torch Run’, authorised by the Director of Education will again be starting from the courtyard steps of both Westside and Bayside schools. The Head teachers of both schools will be joined by the Principal of the College for Further Education and students from the three institutions demonstrating the involvement and support of our education system to individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.
The Head Teachers of both schools together with the Principal of the College will initiate the lighting of the ‘Flame of Hope’ Torch, handing the lit ‘Torch’ over to LETR Honorary Life Patron, Leslie Edmonds, who will then in-turn hand it over to the 1st Torch Runner.
The Torch Run route will this year take the Runners along Waterport Road to Catalan Bay and Eastern Beaches and then onto Ocean Village / New Marina complex, Casemates and along Main Street onto Camp Bay via Rosia Road. The Runners will then make their way to the Lathbury Sports Complex via Europa Road and Buena Vista Road.
The Torch Run will conclude at approximately 6pm at the Lathbury Sports Complex where the Torch Runner will hand over the Torch to a Special Olympic athlete to start a relay towards the Olympic cauldron which will initiate the Special Olympics National Games.
This year, Gibtelecom have volunteered a Premium Telephone ‘Call Line’ whereby the public can call and donate £1 towards The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics (Gibraltar). The number to call for donations is 8611.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics (LETRSO) began in 1981 in Wichita, USA when Kansas Police Chief Richard La Munyon saw an urgent need to raise funds for and increase awareness of Special Olympics. He conceived the idea of a ‘Torch Run’ as a way to involve local law enforcement personnel in the community with Special Olympics.
In 1988, the LETR was established in Gibraltar, although at the time it was known as ‘The Essential Services Torch Run’. Gibraltar became the first country in Europe to officially start a LETR Programme.
