PMC Gas Technician Kyle Lemon's handiwork – the centrepiece of the Games' spectacular opening event in Bath, attended by 7,000 people – was unveiled before staff and senior figures at a ceremony at National Grid's UK Headquarters in Warwick on Monday (25 November).
The ceremony celebrated National Grid's six-year relationship with Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB), which provides year-round sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, and marked a renewed and marked a three-year renewal of the company's sponsorship for the charity.
Neil Pullen, Director of Gas Transmission Asset Management, said: 'The Special Olympic flame was the centrepiece for the Games and Kyle really stepped up to the plate to create a flame worthy of this prestigious event. We are very proud of his achievement and of the contribution made by all our staff who volunteered to help make this year's Games such a success.'
Gay Barber, Volunteering Manager for SOGB, said: We loved the Special Olympic torch; it was really integral to the opening ceremony and we hope to use it again in future games. We would like to thank Kyle and all his colleagues in National Grid for their invaluable support for SOGB.'
Known affectionately as the 'National Grid Dalek', the cauldron consists of a stainless steel bowl, crafted in the shape of the Special Olympics logo, and positioned atop a six foot steel plated plinth, adorned with the Grecian column-logo of this summer's Bath Games.
Kyle created the cauldron over three months and was present to see the cauldron lit at the Games' opening ceremony. He worked on the project alongside his day job with National Grid's Pipelines Maintenance Centre, maintaining and repairing thousands of kilometres of high pressure gas pipelines to keep the gas flowing to homes and business across the country.
Kyle said: 'It was a privilege to have my design used for the Special Olympics National Summer Games. There were a lot of people within the Pipelines Maintenance Centre who helped out and made this cauldron build possible – it was a great team effort'.
National Grid sponsored the volunteer programme for the Summer Games that saw 500 volunteers recruited to run three days of competition for 1700 athletes. The cauldron is due to be on display for several months before being taken into storage for use at future Special Olympic Games.
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Notes to editors - archive
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