Their time to shine (From Northwich Guardian)

Their time to shine

4:00pm Tuesday 4th September 2012 in News By Gina Bebbington

TWO Northwich people have been carrying the torch for the north west in the Paralympic Games.

Teenager Jamie Pritchard, from Kingsmead, and AIDS charity co-founder Lily Newman, from Whitegate, both had a vital part to play carrying the flame on Wednesday morning.

Jamie, 13, was nominated by his parents after they picked up a leaflet at Sainsbury’s in Northwich.

He was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was six and was nominated as a tochbearer for his bravery and determination to help others as a regular fundraiser for both Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and The Joshua Tree.

Jamie ran 800m as part of a team who left Lord’s Cricket Ground at 9am, carrying the flame himself for 130m.

“It was really fun,” he said.

“It was even better than I expected because of the atmosphere and the amount of people that came to watch.”

His mum Jo said: “From my point of view I nearly burst with pride.

“They were runnning two hours late so we had that extra time getting ourselves wound up for it and I was in tears when he got on the bus at the end.”

Lily, who helped found Act4Africa 12 years ago, carried the torch at 6am alongside her charity colleagues.

”For me, personally, it was wonderful to be able to stand alongside such stunning women and quietly reflect on a life changing journey that I have been part of since the charity’s launch 12 years ago.” she said.

“We are not a sexy or particularly appealing organisation and we sometimes struggle to convey the importance of combatting HIV and AIDS in Africa when there are so many other needs closer to home.

“But we know that our work makes a difference.”

She added: “Every one of our staff has overcome so many challenges – in our eyes, they are, and always will be, gold medallists.”