Rotarians took to the streets with marching bands, cheerleaders and acrobats to mark the 30th anniversary of London’s New Year’s Day Parade.
Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland were joined by WheelPower, the UK charity for wheelchair sport, for the special event.
The theme of the Parade was ‘magic’ and Eve Conway, Vice President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, said: “Rotary and WheelPower have partnered to support disabled people and show the real magic of transforming lives through sport. Taking part in the London New Year’s Day Parade is a magical way to mark the start of 2016, particularly with the Paralympic Games taking place this summer in Rio.”
More than 8,500 performers representing 20 different countries marched the Parade route from Green Park to Parliament Square. Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the streets, with the Parade also being broadcast to a ‘live’ TV audience of several hundred million across Great Britain, Ireland, the United States and the rest of the world.
Members of WheelPower played some wheelchair basketball along the route as Rotarians performed a few magic tricks to the crowds. Musical entertainment was provided by Cody Lee and The Retro Boys, the UK’s youngest Retro Band, who played on a trailer being pulled along by a one hundred-year-old steam traction engine, complete with a rabbit coming out of a hat on the front.
Rotary runs many youth projects and fosters young musical talent like Cody Lee.
Published: Thursday 7th January 2016
