Clare Balding, TV presenter and Sports Journalist unveiled the initial range of mascot products for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on Tuesday 17 August at Golden Bear Products Ltd, Telford.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has appointed Golden Bear as its master toy licensee as part of the exciting London 2012 merchandise programme. The London 2012 mascot range will include soft and plastic toy and gift products and are available now from the London 2012 online shop www.shop.london2012.com, from the London 2012 store at St Pancras International in London and at John Lewis stores nationwide.
Mascots Wenlock and Mandeville joined Clare Balding in Telford along with young people from across Shropshire to oversee sample production in Golden Bear’s London 2012 design workshop.
Talking about the mascots, Clare Balding said: “I was delighted to take part in the national launch of the mascots on 19 May 2010, on that occasion I visited the Olympic Park so it seems only right that I unveil the product range in Shropshire at the home of the mascot licensee, Golden Bear. The mascot range offers something for everyone, young and old, and I look forward to seeing Wenlock and Mandeville popping up across the UK as we get nearer to 2012”
David Moorcroft, Chair of the West Midlands Leadership Group for the 2012 Games said: “It is contracts such as the mascot, recognisable by people around the world that brings home what a huge opportunity the 2012 Games presents to businesses across the UK. I am particularly delighted that the organisation charged with creating the mascot product range is Shropshire-based, an area that is already so closely linked, through Much Wenlock, to the inspiration behind the modern Olympic Movement.”
Established in 1979, Shropshire-based Golden Bear Toys is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of toy products. The company has a wealth of experience in producing high-profile sporting memorabilia including the manufacture of mascots for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and Team GB mascots at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Golden Bear’s licence for the 2012 Games will see the company manufacture a whole host of gift products including soft toy mascots of all sizes, key rings, charm accessories, collectable figurines, ‘stick on’ mascots and character backpacks.
The mascots’ names reflect the UK’s rich Olympic and Paralympic histories. Wenlock’s name is inspired by the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock where the ‘Wenlock Games’ was one of the inspirations that led the founder of the modern Olympic movement Baron Pierre de Coubertin to create the Olympic Games. Mandeville’s name is inspired by Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire.