Commonwealth Games :: Queen's Baton Relay

BE A PART OF THE QUEEN'S BATON VISIT TO CANADA! YOU ARE INVITED!

About the Games

The Commonwealth Games is a multinational, multi-sport event. Held every four years, it involves the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. Attendance at the Commonwealth Games is typically around 5,000 athletes. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is the organisation that is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games.

Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) is the international franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth movement in Canada, and an active, contributing member of the Canadian sport community. The mission of Commonwealth Games Canada is to strengthen sport within Canada and throughout the Commonwealth, by participating in the Commonwealth Games and by using sport as a development tool.

About The Relay
The baton’s journey symbolizes the unity and shared ideals of the Commonwealth of Nations, and enables communities beyond the Host City to share the Games celebrations. It also serves a functional purpose in carrying Her Majesty Oueen Elizabeth's II's ‘message to the athletes’ from Buckingham Palace in London to the opening ceremony of the Games. The Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 Delhi commenced from Buckingham Palace, London, on the 29 October 2009. The baton will then travel through all other 70 Commonwealth nations – a historic journey that will cover a distance of more than 170,000 kilometres in 240 days. On its 100 day national tour, the baton will visit the capital of each of India’s 28 states and seven union territories, plus many other cities along the way, covering more than 20,000 kilometres. By the end of its journey, the baton will have traversed over 190,000 kilometres in 340 days, making the Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 Delhi one of the longest relays in the history of the Commonwealth Games. The baton will also have passed through thousands of hands, and travelled by different modes of transport across land, air and sea. The relay will conclude after the final Batonbearer enters the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the XIX Commonwealth Games on 3 October 2010 where Her Majesty’s message will be removed from the baton and read aloud, officially opening the Games. This is your opportunity to become a part of history as Canada hosts the Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 Delhi at Metro Hall Square in Toronto on April 14th and on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 15th. Come out and experience the anticipation of the 2010 Games, cheer on our top summer sport Canadian athletes competing in Delhi this October, and celebrate India!

Click HERE to find out where the Baton is today! MyBindi.com is proud to be sponsoring one leg of the Relay on Wednesday, April 14 at Metro Hall in Toronto. “We are in a unique position to ignite passion, increase awareness, and generate a lot of buzz around the Commonwealth Games in Delhi this year,” said Syerah Virani, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of MyBindi. “MyBindi.com is North America’s leading online destination of all things South Asian, and we are looking forward to highlighting and sharing Canada’s participation in the Delhi Commonwealth Games with our online community.” Toronto

When: Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Where: Toronto (Metro Hall Square, 55 John Street, beside Roy Thompson Hall)
Relay Start Time: 3pm
Speeches and Photo Ops: 3:30pm Ottawa
When: April 15th:  Ottawa (Parliament Hill)
Relay Start Time: 10:45 am

Photo Ops: 11:30 am About the Baton The Queen's Baton 2010 Delhi is a fusion of handcrafted elements interplayed with a precision engineered body, and ornamented with an intricate hand-layered soil pattern. The shape and design of the baton is created using a triangular section of aluminum which has been twisted in the form of a helix and then coated with a diverse range of coloured soils collected from all corners of India. The interweaving of coloured soils, including white sands, deep reds, warm yellows, dark browns and an array of other hues creates a very distinctive design, from and texture never before seen in the styling of a Queen's Baton. The very essence of India with its diversity and unrelenting endeavour towards a harmonious and progessive nation has shaped the inspiration of the baton.

Culminating at the pinnacle of the Queen's Baton 2010 Delhi is a precious jewellery box containing the Queen's 'message to the athletes.' The Queen's message has been symbolically engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf, representative of the ancient Indian 'patras'. Modern laser techonology known as micro calligraphy has been used for the first time to reproduce the Queen's message in this method.
MyBindi nominates Bilaal Rajan and Imaan Virani as the Baton Bearers for the Queen's Baton Relay.
Thirteen year-old Bilaal Rajan isn’t your average young person. The Toronto-based children’s and environmental activist is also a globally-recognized motivational speaker, published author, tireless fundraiser, and UNICEF Canada Ambassador. He founded an organization, Making Change Now (www.bilaalrajan.com), to heighten awareness of youth issues and help kids in need all over the world.
“My main goal is to have one million young people take action, get involved in their communities and help protect our environment,” says Bilaal, whose accomplishments became the content of his newly-published book, Making Change: Tips from an Underage Overachiever (www.makingchangenow.com, Orca Books). In it, Bilaal focuses on being creative, thinking big and being bold.  He shows young people how possible – and how much fun – it really is to make a difference. 

As a UNICEF children’s ambassador, Bilaal has traveled to Malawi, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives to personally see how the funds he raised were making a difference. Two years ago, he volunteered in Tanzania, conducting HIV/AIDS workshops with young people, some of whom had lost mothers and fathers from the disease. In August 2008, he traveled to Ecuador help build schools.

In June 2009, Bilaal traveled to South Africa to meet personally with Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to discuss his projects and new ways in which young people can become more active in changing the world. He also spoke at several schools and met with young students.

Bilaal's motto is “Together, we can make a difference.” He believes this isn’t just a youthful dream, but our destiny.

Thirteen year old Imaan Virani describes herself as a Canadian that was born in England to Indian parents. Imaan champions the case for the Canadian identity which she says, is about “being able to celebrate your ethnic heritage while still nurturing the pride of being Canadian and contributing to Canada's future”. 
Imaan is an engaged citizen and her activism extends from leading environmental campaigns in her school to raising funds through bake sales and developing mini festivals (such as the “Taste of the World” festival which galvanized over 20 students to bring in ethnic foods representing over a dozen countries) to raise funds for Haiti.

Imaan is also a prolific writer and through her blog (http://thoughtturnedwords.blogspot.com/) she routinely counsels her peers on topics such as “becoming a teen” and “reliance on technology”.

MyBindi.com is a proud sponsor of the 2010 Commonwealth Games .

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