Please note: this is an old article
It was published in February 2018, so the information may be out-of-date.
The Queen’s Baton Relay is a long running tradition of the Commonwealth Games. The special Baton contains a message from Her Majesty The Queen.
The baton visits every Commonwealth nation and territory to inspire communities, unite the Commonwealth and share the excitement in the lead up to the Games. And there is only ever ONE Queen’s Baton!
This Queen’s Baton Relay started at Buckingham Palace on the 13th of March 2017 in a special ceremony where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II placed her message inside the Baton.
Since then, the Queen’s Baton has been on an epic journey relaying through every inhabited continent in the world, and has found new and interesting ways to engage.
Some facts and figures to appreciate the scale of this Queen’s Baton Relay:
The Queen’s Baton will travel for three hundred and eighty-eight days in total, engaging with all seventy nations and territories of the Commonwealth.
2.3 billion people live in the Commonwealth, and sixty percent are under the age of thirty. The Queen’s Baton has travelled 2230 thousand kilometres globally.
In Australia alone, it will travel 40,000 kilometres, which is the equivalent to a lap around the world!
There are 3,800 batonbearers in Australia who will collectively take one million steps to get the Queen’s Baton to the Opening Ceremony.
Gold Coast 2018 will be the twenty-first Commonwealth Games, and the fifth Commonwealth Games held in Australia. Lastly, there are only 49 days to go until the Queen’s Baton arrives at the Opening Ceremony on the Gold Coast, where Prince Charles will remove Her Majesty’s message from the Baton and read it aloud to officially declare the Games Open.
The Queens Baton passed through Greater Shepparton on Wednesday 14th February, baton bearers as pictured were: Zahra Al Hindawi, Joshua Baginski, Alana Baldi, Stephen Barker, Kenneth Birkett, Rhonda Cator, Allan Connolly, Kayne Crompton, Lloyd Freer, Kathy Fuller, Todd Hodgetts OAM, Jennifer Savage, Damien Saxon, Michael Scandolera, Dhami Singh, Damien Stevens & Jacinta Todd.