FREE: YORK RESIDENTS FREE WEEKEND SATURDAY 5 MAY 2012

Opening time: normal house opening hours

Location: Fairfax House, Castlegate, York YO1 9RN

York residents are invited to visit Fairfax House free of charge for one weekend only. This special opportunity is being offered because of the closure of the House during the York Residents’ Festival in February. Residents will need to show a valid York Card to gain entry.

For tickets contact Fairfax House on 01904 655543 or call in during House opening hours.

Two new free sports programmes for young job seekers are being launched by City of York Council. It’s the first time a free fitness programme for unemployed people aged 16 to 25 will be run in York.

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If you intend coming along to the evening celebration the organising partners would appreciate some idea of numbers, how you are getting there and where you are coming from? http://www.yorkgold2012.co.uk/register.php

The Torch Relay is the one part of the Games that goes across the UK, so it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase the people, communities and scenery that make the UK great. In York, with our York 800 celebrations in full swing, it will collectively be our moment to shine in the Olympic Torch light.

The Olympic Flame is lit at the Temple of Hera, at Ancient Olympia in Greece. It is created uniquely for each Winter and Summer Games by focusing sunlight in a parabolic mirror. At this point, it is the only place in the world where the Olympic Flame is alight. It then travels round Greece for seven days before being passed to the UK, where it begins the Relay in Land’s End.

The Torch arrives in the UK on 18 May 2012 and the Relay starts the next day from Lands End.
The Flame will travel for 70 days – 63 days around the UK and the final seven days around London.
The Torch will cover approximately 8,000 miles across the UK, through Torchbearing and travelling in convoy mode.
There will be 8,000 Torchbearers who will carry the Torch for approximately 300 metres each.

Olympic Torch Relay evening celebration locations – Yorkshire
Mon 18 June: HULL
Tue 19 June: YORK
Sun 24 June: LEEDS
Mon 25 June: SHEFFIELD
Tue 26 June: CLEETHORPES
Evening celebration, York

The early evening event in York will be on 19 June 2012 at York Racecourse on the Knavesmire. As part of the early evening celebrations, we will be co-ordinating opportunities for residents to try out new sports or games activities. More information will be shared nearer the time as much of the event will be presented by LOCOG’s presenting partners (see below).
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Four men at the centre of a large-scale theft from a major insurance company have been forced to hand back the profits of their crime.

John Michael Taylor, Stephen Paul Spellacy, Peter Harrington and Keith Swift who were part of a gang of 14 people who stole £1.4million from Aviva in York have been ordered to repay almost £500,000.
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Visit York, the City’s Tourism Agency, are to be asked to stimulate a 5% pa increase in “tourism earnings”– together with a 2% boost in tourism jobs – in the City, under a plan released by the Council.

Visit York will be given a grant of £272,310 a year under a proposal which will be considered next week.

A service level agreement with the organisation sets out expectations on both sides.

Amongst the targets proposed are a 1% increase each year in visitor satisfaction and a requirement for 90% of members of the organisation to be satisfied with the services provided.

A 5% increase in the numbers attending the Visitor Centre is anticipated.

Business tourism is targeted to increase by 5% with at least 6 major national and/or international conferences to be held in the City each year.

http://tinyurl.com/York-Tourism-Plan