News and press releases

Royal Mail will be joining up to 800 athletes from Team GB and ParalympicsGB at the ‘Our Greatest Team Parade’ on Monday (September 10th) to celebrate their success at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Royal Mail is honoured to be taking part in the parade, after being involved in the Games since 2009.

Royal Mail has issued 49 Gold Medal stamps to mark every gold medal won by Team GB and ParalympicsGB to date. Royal Mail will continue to issue gold medal stamps for gold medal winning athletes until the end of the Games.

The company also painted more than 80 of its iconic red post boxes gold in the home or training towns of the gold medal winning athletes. Royal Mail was also involved in delivering over six million tickets for the Games too.

During the parade, Royal Mail employees will carry images of every single Gold Medal stamp issued during the Games.

The stamp bearers, who were chosen via a draw, are made up of Royal Mail, Romec* and Post Office people involved in issuing the Gold Medal stamps, processing and delivering Olympic and Paralympic tickets, painting post boxes gold and delivering mail to the Olympic Village.

The stamp bearers will indicate the gold medal winning athletes, who will be carried on floats as part of the parade, which will travel through central London.

The parade will start at 1.30pm at Mansion House, City of London. It will involve 21 floats, arranged by each sport, and will feature medal winners as well as participants from Team GB and ParalympicsGB.

The parade will make its way towards St Paul’s Cathedral. It will then travel towards the Strand before reaching Trafalgar Square. The parade will then make its way through Admiralty Arch into The Mall, travelling down to the Queen Victoria Memorial.

Note to Editors:

• Royal Mail’s Gold Medal stamps can be purchased via www.royalmail.com/goldmedalstamps or at Post Offices across the country. To find your nearest branch, visit www.postoffice.co.uk.  Alternatively call Royal Mail’s customer service centre on 08457 641 641 located at Tallents House, 21 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 PPB
• The location of the gold post boxes can be found at www.goldpostboxes.com
• The UK is believed to be the first country to paint post boxes gold to celebrate both Olympic and Paralympic gold medal wins
• Royal Mail has been the first postal administration in the world to commemorate the gold medal achievements of its national Paralympic team in this way
• *Romec is the company part owned by Royal Mail to undertake facilities and maintenance services and painted the post boxes gold across the country
• For further details of the parade, visit http://www.molpresents.com/parade

Simon Feldman
PR Manager (Campaigns)
Royal Mail Group
Mobile: 07435 769 017
Email: Simon.feldman@royalmail.com
Tel: 020 7250 2468 (24 hour press office)