Already five months into its journey across the 72 countries and territories of the Commonwealth, the Queen’s Baton Relay will arrive in England on 4 July. It will then tour the country, reaching Birmingham for the start of the Commonwealth Games at the end of the month. The Baton contains the Queen’s message to the Commonwealth, and will have travelled approximately 90,000 miles, carried by over 7,500 people, by the time it is returned to Her Majesty at the Opening Ceremony.
At the start of 2022, the organisers of the Games asked the public to nominate ‘inspiring individuals’ from their communities to become Batonbearers. Claire Coutinho, MP for East Surrey, also invited her constituents to suggest somebody for the honour, so she could nominate them personally.
Representing East Surrey
From these suggestions, Claire chose Elaine Forsyth, from Bletchingley:
“I was so pleased to nominate Elaine to be a Batonbearer. Her role as Head of Pre-Prep at Hawthorns School, her passion for ensuring every child can achieve their potential, and her work with local charities – they speak for themselves. Indeed, her services to charity and education earned her a BEM award from Her Majesty The Queen. I very much hope the team at the Commonwealth Games accepts the nomination. I know we would all be very proud to have Elaine as our representative across East Surrey.”
Nominations closed in February, and the winners will be notified in April.
