Crowds queue once again in Basingstoke to see Olympic torch (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Terriann Clarkstone brings torch to Tesco
11:00am Thursday 9th August 2012 in Local By Emily Roberts, Chief Reporter
Terriann Clarkstone with store manager Nigel Perman
AN OLYMPIC torch attracted crowds to Basingstoke last Saturday as hundreds of people queued to have their photograph taken holding it.
Torchbearer Terriann Clarkstone, from Bramley, brought her torch to Tesco , in Festival Place , after carrying it in Winchester on July 11. The 32-year-old was nominated by a colleague at HRG, a business travel company in Farnborough, for her charity fundraising efforts and inspiring others to get involved to raise thousands of pounds for good causes.
Customers in Tesco paid £1 to hold the torch and have their picture taken with it, and the snap was printed out for them within minutes. Terriann said: “It was just an amazing thing. I was overwhelmed when I carried the torch and now I want to use it to raise as much money as I can throughout the summer.”
She was aiming to raise £1,500 for Cancer Research throughout the day, and stayed in the store from 10am to 4pm. Nicki Wallis, charity organiser for Tesco, said: “It’s gone brilliantly and we haven’t stopped. “There’s been a queue outside constantly, and there’s a raffle as well to raise even more money, and free chocolate to give to the kids.”
Clare Stanley, 31, from Worting, Basingstoke, posed for a picture with the torch and her two children, Imogen and George Martin. The 31-year-old said: “It was great. Imogen was excited because she’s watched it go through the town and has wanted to hold it for ages. “We saw the torch was here so we had to come along.”
