This month and last month see a focus on sport, what with wall-to-wall football from Euro 2012, the second week of Wimbledon now looming and of course the build up to the Olympic Games which begin on 27th July. As ever, I’m writing well in advance of you reading this letter, so can’t comment on the fate of the England football team, or how likely it is that any British tennis player apart from Andy Murray is still in the singles competitions. I’d like to think that football fans are looking forward to England playing in the Euro 2012 final on Sunday, but I suspect it’s more likely they’ve already been knocked out on penalties, probably by Germany – that’s what usually seems to happen.
One of my big disappointments about the Olympics is how it seems to be less about the sport and more about corporate sponsorship – witness the Olympic Café owner in London who was forced to change the name of his business and the many cases of Trading Standards having to prevent companies advertising ‘Olympic offers’ and such like. We’ve even heard of people watching the Torch Relay being asked to remove or hide clothing containing branding which is not from an official sponsor!
Thankfully there are some local events I can suggest to you without fear of reprisals – Whitley Bay’s annual Sandcastle Competition takes place on 22nd July (see here for information on this and other events), while the Classic VW Camper Van and Car Rally returns to Tynemouth for its second year on 28th July (see here). Like last year, we’ll be at both!
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by Carol Robinson