The Chipping Campden community is rightly proud of the tradition which was begun all those years ago by Robert Dover and which has become a unique sporting festival – a local event organised every year by and for local people. So it will be fitting to mark the 400th anniversary in 2012, perhaps with a week of celebrations taking in other aspects of local culture as well as the Games themselves – which will be on Friday 1 June in 2012.

 

Because of the co-occurrence in 2012 of the London Olympics there is already increased media and public interest in Chipping Campden’s Olimpicks. The Robert Dover’s Games Society want the summer of 2012 to be an enjoyable and positive experience for all of Chipping Campden and its visitors. This means that ideas need to be aired and shared, and that there must be good planning over the coming months and years. 2012 will present good opportunities for a wide range of interests, including civic, business, educational, social, artistic and recreational.  

 

With this in mind the Robert Dover’s Games Society is putting together a Steering Group to act as an umbrella for these interests. The Group will also be responsible for carrying out the planning and organisation between now and 2012. Consultation and coordination will be important so that expectations can be properly managed.  

 

We are looking for people interested in helping us with all this, in particular in areas such as fundraising, event planning, PR, accounting and legal aspects. The Society is run entirely by volunteers and is not resourced to pay for any such help. We do not expect any of this activity to take up much time until nearer to 2012, but for continuity we hope to identify people now who have an interest in making 2012 special.  

 

In today’s virtual world you do not need to live in Chipping Campden - or even in the UK – to think about helping us towards 2012. If you are interested in helping - or would just like to know more about our ideas so far - please get in touch with either of us. We are both members of the Robert Dover’s Games Society. Our contact details are:

 

Jane King  

janeyn@tiscali.co.uk

 

Clive Thompson

clivecarol@googlemail.com