The Queen's Baton Relay

by her relatives. Medics say she's a risk to all. Now on BBC News, the

Queen's Baton Relay. This week sees Scotland hosting one of the biggest

sporting events in the world. The 20th Commonwealth Games. And to kick

things off, the Queen's baton is coming to Glasgow. I'm proud of it,

proud to be part of this. Last October, the baton set off on a

momentous journey around the Commonwealth. And for the last 40

days of its journey, over 4000 people have carried it across the

host nation. The baton bearers are people who have dedicated their

lives to helping others. If I can get them moving on in a game of

table tennis, I can get them moving on in their life. People whose

extraordinary achievements have been an inspiration. It was amazing. I

was not the only one in a wheelchair. And people who have

brought communities together. Sad, happy, excited and so proud. Every

step of the baton's journey takes it closer to the final destination, the

opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. It gives me the greatest

pleasure to declare the 20th Commonwealth Games open.

The baton's journey in Scotland will span the length and breadth of the

country, covering more than 2400 miles. It will travel through

breathtaking landscapes and incredible coastline. This ambitious

route will take it to communities in the country's Father's Day and most

remote corners. The first stop is the capital, Edinburgh.

Today, the city is out to celebrate the arrival of the baton. It is

important for everybody taking part. It is good for the communities, it's

great. Although Glasgow was hosting the games, the diving events will be

held here in Edinburgh. And as the Games get ever closer, preparations

are well under way to make a splash. Behind every athlete is a

hard`working team of coaches and volunteers. One is baton bearer,

Francis Smith. She has been a volunteer at the city's leading

swimming club for 29 years. Coaching is wonderful. It is getting to know

the children and working with them and seeing them improve and trying

to help them to become more all`round swimmers as well as faster

swimmers and to enjoy the whole experience. 54 years ago, as a

16`year`old, she was selected to represent Scotland. Now, she works

hard to make sure the youngsters at this swimming club are able to enjoy

their sport as much as she did. Five metres into the turn, ten metres

out. Freestyle. OK, go! Francis is really nice. I think she is really

nice and she does a very good job. She is really nice and funny. The

fact that it has been recognised for myself and all the other volunteers

as well, I think it is wonderful, especially for people who have never

been heard of before and did not really think they were doing

anything special. Now, they have been selected and here they are and

it is great for them. As the baton's journey continues, it is

passed from one local hero to the next. People who made a difference

in their own way. In Tranent in East Lothian, the crowded out for Kyle

Wood and his family. Frazee child, we learned he had severe brain

damage, learning difficulty and epilepsy. It did not hold him back.

He loved sport, music. But the sports, the athletics, was his main

thing. He just loved to run. Kyle was a regular at the local

disability sports club, Lothian Leopards. All he wanted to do was

come down here and help others who were less able than himself. He had

a little wee mantra he would always say to them: You can do it, just

like me, just like I did. That is what he would say to the children

over and over, just to get them involved. It was part of who Kyle

was, really. Sadly, Kyle passed away earlier this year. His big sister

Kai will take his place and carried the baton in his memory. We were all

very sad but we did not want his nomination to go to waste, so here I

am. It's comforting to know that Kyle has touched these people in

some way, whether it be through the sports or his music or just for

being Kyle. Sad, happy, excited. I'm being Kyle. Sad, happy, excited. I'm

so proud. It is a bittersweet day but Kyle would have enjoyed it. He

would have been here, running along with the rest of them, so for

everybody to turn out in such support as well is just amazing,

really amazing. As the baton moves through Scotland,

ever closer to the spectacular opening ceremony in Glasgow, it is a

chance for many small communities to celebrate their local heroes.

Communities like Shotts. The once proud mining town, Shotts fell upon

hard times after the mines closed in the 1960s. Over the years, the town

has fought hard to get back on its feet. And one man has been doing his

very best to help it on its way. I got involved in boxing when I was 11

or 12 years old. It was my father who took me to the local boxing

club. He was a great boxing fan. In his boxing career, Frank was no

stranger to success, but it was when he retired that the sport was to

become even more important. When I stopped boxing, it was a few years

later when a guy came by and asked me if I would be interested in

coaching some young guys in the village. I thought I would try it

and I tried it and it is almost 40 years later now and I'm still doing

it. Run entirely on a voluntary basis, the boxing club did not have

a permanent home until recently, when they took over an old derelict

school. This was a classroom. There were three separate classrooms and

the first thing we decided to do was to make it into one room, so we

knocked down the petitions and what have you. We were not sure where to

put everything around, whether to have it here, but it is up there

now. `` we were not sure where to put the ring. I was quite a heavy

kid and I was younger but I kept coming back to the gym and stuck

with it all the time through all the hard times and eventually, good

things started to come and it all fell into place. This year, three

boxers from the club will be competing at the Commonwealth Games.

They got a bit of a taste of the boxing life after I met Frank and I

just took to it. That has been my calling, representing Scotland all

over the world. Sport lets you travel the world and meet new people

and become a confident person. Boxing has given me a lot of

confidence. Frank has given me a lot of confidence. And I have gained

pretty much my whole life through boxing. As Frank's moment

approaches, the crowds are out to cheer him on. It is promising to be

a knockout today for everyone. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. There are

areas like Shotts all over the country. The potential that you have

in some of these areas is breathtaking and it does not get

exploited, it does not get explored. Things like boxing clubs,

judo clubs, football clubs, they can give people an opportunity to get on

in life. How, Georgie! That was fantastic! I will never forget that.

One of the best things that has ever happened to me. Quite excited,

yeah. I can feel my wee heart going! It has been 14 days on the road for

the baton and the next stop is Dundee. It is home to baton bearer

Elisabeth Beresford. Having friends and family following me, it was like

this be of people moving up the road. It was awesome. It was just

amazing. Originally from Northern Ireland, Elizabeth moved to Dundee

to study medicine in 2008 but life took an unexpected turn when she was

diagnosed with Bechet 's disease. I had been unwell for a while but in

2010, it became clear there was something not quite right. Bechet 's

disease is a rare blood disorder. For Elizabeth, the early symptoms

caused blindness in her right eye and then started to affect her

lungs. I thought I had the flu and went along to the GP and said that

my chest felt quite rubbish and I was admitted to hospital with

pneumonia and it all went wrong on there. Over the next few months, as

her condition worsened, there were many trips to the hospital. The

final blow was when the information spread to her spine, leaving her

paralysed on the waist down. I was like, what do I do with myself? Sit

at home and watch daytime television? I was not fit enough to

do anything. I could not have pushed a broom around the kitchen. I could

not have done it. It nearly broke me. It was very difficult. In 2012,

as the Paralympics took centre stage in London, Elizabeth and her mother

took a trip that was to change her life. It was amazing because I was

just like, wow! I'm not the only one in a chair. The plan was to go back

to university that year and this was a catalyst to say that I can do

this. Inspired by the Paralympic athletes, Elizabeth was keen to get

her life back on track. She moved back to Dundee to resume her medical

degree and wanted to start playing sport again. When I came back to

Dundee, I was a wheelchair user and had a taste of sport. I realised

there was nowhere to take part in active chair of sport. So she

decided to start her own. I just thought, there has to be more than

me. I cannot be the only one. I did not know anyone else in the area in

a wheelchair and I thought, how can I do this? LAUGHTER. With no prior

experience and no access to funding, it was not easy getting

started but by March of the following year, Dundee Dragons

wheelchair sports club had its launch day. People came along and

got stuck in and some of the people behind me came in first day and have

been with us ever since. I like the feeling that I can do something

because sometimes I get upset when I go out with my friends and they are

all on bikes and things and it is good to know that I'm good at

something that they cannot do. I can do something good. We have people

who have represented Scotland at wheelchair rugby league and

wheelchair basket all. We have people who want to go to the

Paralympics and they will. They have the talent and they will. I want to

be like her when I grow up. Have a car, go to university, pursue my

dreams. She has a completely normal life and does not let her do

disability define what she does. That is what I want to do with my

life as well. I always encourage people that whatever it is, get out

there and enjoy yourself because you will finally progress and that is

the way to do it. As the baton moves to the scenic

Highlands of Scotland, it is given a warm welcome. In Inverness, or one

young girl has been chosen to carry the baton for her exceptional

sporting talent. Already a world champion twice over, Olivia won her

first title when she was just five. Ever since I was a young woman, mum

and dad said I might go to the Olympics. They always said that and

they have always encouraged me to do it. Olivia started martial arts at

the age of three. She was a bit of a handful. I was at the German and I

found a leaflet that said, does your child need more self`discipline and

self`confidence? We signed her up. Treating five nights a week for nine

years, Olivia is on her way to the top of the sport. She is now focused

on representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. It gives

them focus. Olivia is a great student. She is a happy girl all the

time. The sky is the limit for somebody as talented as her. It was

really good. I just enjoyed every second of it. It went really quick.

It felt like ten seconds. After 36 days on the road, the baton has

travelled through hundreds of towns and villages. It has been in the

hands of thousands of baton bearers. It has been welcomed by people all

over Scotland. And now it heads to its final destination, Glasgow. Home

to the 20th Commonwealth Games. In less than three days, the Queen

will declare the 2014 games open. And local communities are taking

this opportunity to honour their upcoming sporting talent. Originally

from Somalia, baton Berrow moved to Scotland and he was just seven years

old. Making a life in a new country was not easy for him. But his love

of sport was to change all that. It made it a lot easier to make friends

when you are doing sport. You are surrounded by people who are the

same as you. You might come from different backgrounds, but you have

that one thing in common. You just feel together. My plans for the

future is I would like to hopefully reach the Commonwealth Games in

2018. I would like to compete. Although I

am originally from Somalia, I feel more Scottish than I do Somalian.

That is the country I would like to represent. It felt incredible. You

get to see all the faces of people you recognise. It was really good.

Just at the outskirts of Glasgow lies Drumchapel. Terry is a local

boy and has lived here since he was seven. Drumchapel is a massive

housing scheme. It was 37,000 people. It was overpopulated and

there was not a lot to do. There were too many of us. There was no

sports centre. It only had three badminton courts. We made our own

entertainment. The crowded housing estates had more than their fair

share of problems. And Terry fell into bad company growing up. Over

the years, I was in a gang. We never got into any trouble. But that was

the way it was. I would not come down here if I was young. One

evening when he was 15, his life was to change for ever. One day somebody

asked me to go into a youth club. I went into the youth club and I never

forgot it. They were playing badminton. There was a music room,

there was a pool room. There were five tennis `` table tennis tables.

I kept going. There was no looking back for Terry. He wanted to use

table tennis to inspire people the way it had done for him. He started

his own club. It came with its own challenges. We only had one table. I

was not very good for putting in the grants. We struggled and kept going.

But the more I kept it going, the more kids I was getting to come. And

that kept Terry going. I can see kids playing. It does not matter

what level. If I can get them moving, it will help them in their

life. That is my story. Somebody gave me a bat, I never let it go.

All the hard work paid off. Today the club has over 400 members

training every week. Terry is just so enthusiastic about the sport.

Talk to anybody who knows him. The west have good things to say for

them. `` they always have. Such an inspiration. In table tennis all

over Scotland. He has been a great mover and shaker in the community.

And Visio, 25 years after the club first opened its doors, there is a

very special cause for celebration. `` this year. I am very proud of

what I have achieved. It has been fantastic. I have just learned that

you can help kids. All my kids have got jobs. Plumbers, electricians,

somewhere at university. It gives them discipline. It gives

them a focus. You can see the change. Sometimes they come in and

are quite rough and tumble. But then they are entirely different. Terry

was just one of 4000 baton bearers who carried the baton the length and

breadth of Scotland. Now after 288 days on the road, the baton finally

heads to Celtic Park for the opening ceremony of the 20th Commonwealth

Games. `` 28. 288 days ago, the Queen placed a

message inside the baton. And now it returns to her to be read to the

assembled athletes and audience from around the Commonwealth. Together,

all play a part in the strengthening our friendships in this modern and

vibrant association of nations. It now gives me the greatest pleasure

to declare the 20th Commonwealth Games open.

So the baton's journey is over. The message has been read. And the games

are well and truly under way. It has been an interesting week of

weather. Heat and thunderstorms in some

places. The message through this weekend is