Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are to visit Wigan borough this Thursday (21st May).
Expected to arrive at Wigan North Western railway station at around 10am, the Royal Party will visit first Heinz at Kitt Green to mark the Golden Anniversary of Europe's largest food processing plant, before moving on to a late-morning appointment at Leigh Sports Village.
They will be taken on a tour of the site south of Leigh town centre to see some of the 22 sporting activities available in the brand new complex. The royals will be accompanied by Cllr Mark Aldred, the borough's new Mayor; Lord Peter Smith, Leader of Wigan Council, representatives from Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, Leigh Sports Village Company, the site's developers and other dignitaries.
Her Majesty will declare Leigh Sports Village open from the centre of the stunning 11,000 capacity stadium, which is home to football and rugby league, as well as to hospitality and conference facilities.
The Royal Visitors will watch a tag rugby tournament between local primary schools and Manchester operatic tenor Martin Toal will perform the National Anthem. Martin is known by many as ‘England's Winning Tenor’ because the England football team has never even conceded a goal on the six occasions he has sung the National Anthem before an international.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will have lunch at the sports village as guests of Wigan Council.
Lord Peter Smith, Leader of Wigan Council, says:
“Wigan Council has worked hard over several years to realise a development that now stands as a model for the rest of the country – a credit to the town, to the borough and to everybody who has been involved in the project.”
Also on site, the Pavilion, home to Leigh East amateur rugby club with two full size pitches, a 400m track for Leigh Harriers and the indoor sports centre where free swimming for all was launched earlier this year. Away from sport, the site also boasts a four star hotel, Leigh Sixth Form College, home to 600 students and also Wigan and Leigh Disability Partnership’s Centre for Independent Living. This is to be The Queen's first port of call upon arrival in Leigh.
Sue Mortimer of the Disability Partnership is proud that the Queen will see her team’s work.
“The centre opened its doors earlier this year as part of the government’s requirement that each area should have a user-led organisation to work towards independent living for disabled people. This visit will help us to encourage others to join us and join in so we can reach out further into our community.”
Lord Smith adds that working with the site developers Greenbank has shown how communities can work with commercial organisations. He says:
“At a time when there’s never been so much concern about fitness and physical activity, they have worked with the council and others to offer local people, young and old, unparalleled sporting and leisure opportunities.”
