CHRISTIANS in south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will be at the heart of our Olympic celebrations this summer.

Sydney Dean practices on the streets of Swanmore

Churches are planning Olympic-themed holiday clubs, special services and sporting events, using the enthusiasm for the Games to help share more about God. They will also be heavily involved as the Olympic Torch Relay passes through Portsmouth.

Sydney Dean MBE, from St Barnabas Church, Swanmore, is one of 8,000 inspirational people who will carry the Olympic torch. The 86-year-old will jog through Boscombe, just outside Bournemouth, on July 14 after he was nominated by city councillors Therese Evans and Frank Pearson for his charity work.

After 40 years in the Navy, he has devoted his retirement to raising money for good causes. He has organised balls for the Mayor of Winchester’s charities for the past nine years, re-launched the Swanmore Fete to raise money for the village’s holiday club and helped the Paterson Centre to be built next to the church.

“It will be a wonderful honour to carry the torch,” he said. “I like the charity work because I think I enjoying organising things.”

The Torch Relay will also pass through Totland Bay, Yarmouth, Newport and Cowes on July 14. Isle of Wight worshippers will gather to pray and receive a ‘prayer baton’ – a baton with written prayers inserted inside which is being carried alongside the torch – at the Church on the Roundabout, Newport, from 1pm-2pm on July 14.

Worshippers in Portsmouth will hold an hour-long prayer and praise event in Guildhall Square from 7.15pm on July 14 to mark the occasion.

The following day (July 15), the Olympic torch will arrive in Portsmouth via the Gosport ferry. Worshippers from St George’s Church, Portsea, will be handing out water and chocolate to those waiting to glimpse the torch at The Hard from 3.30pm onwards.

The prayer baton will be received from Southampton church leaders at St John’s RC Cathedral in Portsmouth at 4.15pm on July 15. The Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Christopher Foster, will lead half an hour of prayer before the Olympic torch passes the cathedral at about 6.20pm.

Later that day (July 15), at the celebration on Southsea Common, worshippers from Portsmouth churches will provide a ‘quiet zone’ as around 20,000 people gather to welcome the torch. The marquee is available from 5pm for those who need time out from the celebrations, for prayer ministry, and to act as a base for Street Pastors, who will be helping out anyone who needs them. Worshippers will then gather at St Jude’s Church, Southsea, from 8pm for a final act of worship.

The following day (July 16), worshippers from St Mary’s Church, Fratton, will offer cups of tea and coffee – and the use of toilets – as crowds watch the Olympic torch leave Fratton Park and travel up Fratton Road from 7.30am. Portsmouth church leaders will travel to Brighton to pass on the prayer baton at 12noon that day.

Once the Olympics start, there will be a variety of other activities. The annual Denmead Activities and Bible School (DABS), based at All Saints Church, Denmead will have an Olympic theme when it meets from August 14-17. It’s called ‘Champions!’ and they’ll teach children how Jesus ‘ran the race’ for God. Find out more on www.allsaintsdenmeadhampshire.org.uk/dabs.

And the Christian organisation Spirit in Sport, based at St Jude’s, Southsea, is running Olympic-themed sports events at churches from June until August. Congregations will be urged to invite children from local schools – and their parents – to join team games.

They’ll be at St Mary’s, Fratton Road, Portsmouth, on July 5, St Mary Magdalen Sheet, on July 22, St Jude’s, Southsea, on August 11, and Holy Trinity, Fareham on a date to be confirmed.

Organiser Chris Cox said: “The team with the highest score wins a prize but we will also give out individual prizes for fair play, encouragement, perseverance and teamwork. The focus is on fun but learning sporting values such as winning with humility, losing with dignity, teamwork and fair play.”

Clare Wood, from St Cuthbert’s in Copnor, will be part of the team of dancers involved in the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium on July 27. She danced for Portsmouth Players as a teenager and with the Southsea School of Dance.

And teams of bellringers on the Isle of Wight hope to ring their bells on July 27 to mark the opening of the Olympic Games.

For full details of Olympics activities and resources for your church, see www.portsmouth.anglican.org/olympics.