MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands to receive Queen's Games baton.

THE Falklands is to receive the Queen's baton which will carry Her Majesty's 'message to the athletes' at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The baton was launched by the Queen in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace last week at a ceremony attended by the Falklands representative in London, Miss Sukey Cameron.

This will be the longest; most inclusive journey across the Commonwealth ever made by the baton and will encompass all 71 nations of the Commonwealth - including the Falklands. It is due to arrive in the Islands on August 31, accompanied by a team of four, including a Commonwealth Games Federation Vice-President and an Australian television cameraman; the team will remain in the Islands for three days, leaving on Saturday, September 1, via the Lan flight, when they will head to Ottawa, Canada.

Chairman of the Overseas Games Association (FIOGA), Patrick Watts said he hopes; weather permitting, to have a relay of 70-80 people carry the baton from Mount Pleasant to Stanley. "These will include runners, walkers, joggers, people in wheelchairs etc, and will hopefully range from young children to older members of the community.

"The Falkland Islands Defence Force have agreed to carry the baton to the highest peak, Mt Usborne (regardless of the weather), and FIOGA hope to take the baton to West Falklands for a day to allow Westers to join in the celebrations, and maybe host a reception at Port Howard."

Mr Watts says the arrival of the baton in the Falklands will give the Islands "splendid media coverage" and should prove to be an excellent public relations exercise.

"The baton has a microchip inserted which allows millions of people world-wide to check its progress at every step!"

The Melbourne Games begin on March 15, 2006.

Continuing the Commonwealth theme this week, two Falklands college students met the Queen during a Commonwealth Day visit to Westminster. Teslyn Barkman and Zoran Zuvic-Bulic were selected to represent the Islands at the annual Commonwealth Day celebrations at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Secretariat on last Monday.

They met the Queen at a reception at Marlborough House. Zoran said Her Majesty, "...didn't have much to say," but, "...it was just a nice experience to meet the Queen." He said a highlight of the Commonwealth Day events was attending an observance ceremony at Westminster Abbey: "It's such a famous place and the Queen, Tony Blaire, Kelly Holmes and Ahmir Khan were all there; it was just a really good experience." Zoran said he particularly enjoyed three debates, held at Marlborough House, based around the Commonwealth Day theme, 'Education - Creating Opportunity and Realising Potential'. He said, "...we were sat at a huge table in Marlborough House where many laws have been passed. "To debate with so many people of different cultures was really useful and a good experience." He added that he and Teslyn were grateful to Jenny Smith and everyone who helped to organise their trip to London. (PN)