Shrewsbury is very proud to have been selected to welcome the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to Shropshire by hosting the Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) and a celebration event in the Quarry Park today, Monday 18 July.

As a result of the extreme heat weather warnings of last week, a review has taken place regarding whether these events should go ahead. Advice has been taken from event partners, including the QBR team and organisers of the Quarry event, about reviewing risk assessments and implementing extra measures to mitigate against risks to public health. As a result of these additional measures and precautions to deal with the predicted temperatures and sun strength, a decision has been made to go ahead with the planned events.

We're confirming that the events will go ahead and event organisers will be providing all the help possible to make the events safe and comfortable. We're also urging personal responsibility and care, and advising everyone to follow the UK Health Security Agency advice:

• The best thing to do in the hot weather is to stay out of the direct sun, especially between 11am and 3pm as UV rays are strongest during these hours
• If going out in the hot weather, walk in the shade, apply sunscreen, wear a hat and light, loose cotton clothes
• If you or others feel unwell, get dizzy, feel weak, anxious or have intense thirst, move to a cool place, rehydrate and cool your body down
• Rest immediately in a cool place if you have painful muscular spasms and drink plenty of cool drinks. Seek medical attention if you feel unusual symptoms or if symptoms persist

The following measures will be implemented for the specific elements of the event:

Queen’s Baton Relay route through Shrewsbury town

The message from the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee’s Queen’s Baton Relay team is that they will continue to deliver the activity as planned, and will be looking to put extra measures in place for the welfare of their team and batonbearers:

• Extra water will be in all batonbearers' vehicles
• Sun cream is available on all batonbearers' vehicles
• Umbrellas will be available to provide extra shade for batonbearers when waiting at their slot
• Should we be running more than 30 minutes late to an activity the route event manager will ring ahead so that all participants can be kept inside/in shade for as long as possible

The Quarry celebration event

Additional precautions for the Quarry event 4-9pm:

• Undercover seated areas and lots of chairs
• A misting tent which people can walk through and cool down through water.
• Water fill-up stations and standpipes with multiple taps so that more people can fill up at the same time
• Free sunscreen stations
• Street food people advised to bring lots of cold drinks
• Wenlock Water will be bringing their chilled water refill station, and also be on hand selling bottles of water if people don’t have their own water bottle