RAF centenary baton set to visit the area

A baton being carried around the UK and abroad to mark 100 years of the Royal Air Force comes to the Sleaford area this week.
The RAF100 Baton Relay on day one in London. Picture: UK Mod Crown Copyright. ytmj2X1eKcclyiyLxXKzThe RAF100 Baton Relay on day one in London. Picture: UK Mod Crown Copyright. ytmj2X1eKcclyiyLxXKz
The RAF100 Baton Relay on day one in London. Picture: UK Mod Crown Copyright. ytmj2X1eKcclyiyLxXKz

By the time it has finished, the RAF100 Baton Relay will have visited 100 sites associated with the RAF in 100 days.

On Wednesday, June 13, day 74, it comes to the Sleaford area – with stops at St Andrew’s CofE Primary School, Leasingham, RAF Digby, Cranwell Primary School, and RAF College Cranwell.

The route for this part of the UK has been devised by Cpl Matthew Jeffrey, the Midlands regional coordinator for the relay, based on the aims of the relay to ‘commemorate, celebrate, and inspire’.

With the first two of these in mind, it includes all six Midlands main operating stations, plus memorials, war graves, and crash sites.

With the ‘inspire’ element in mind, however, it also includes seven schools (in conjunction with the Big Ideas Company).

This, Cpl Jeffrey says, is to ‘allow children to explore themes such as remembrance and sacrifice through creative writing and poetry, enable them to place the RAF in its historical context, raise their awareness of today’s ever-changing operations, and gain insight into how we are seeking to evolve in the future’.

n For updates on the relay, see @RAFBatonRelay on Twitter.

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