Charity heroes given Olympic Torch honour

Charity campaigners who have raised thousands of pounds for good causes are among those who will carry the Olympic Torch through Staffordshire towns and villages.

Thousands of people are expected to line the route when the flame travels through Stafford, Lichfield and Great Wyrley. Adele Bisbey, aged 42, from Stafford, is one of those selected for the honour.

A group of Adele's friends put her name forward in recognition of her tireless work to raise money and awareness of ovarian cancer. Adele had been diagnosed in 2009 with cancer and underwent a hysterectomy and chemotherapy.

She has also raised more than £20,000 for cancer charities.

Adele, of Little Onn, near Church Eaton, will carry the torch through Haughton on its way to Stafford.

She said: "I never win anything, not even a raffle, so to be chosen – I don't think it has sunk in yet."

Leigh Rogers, a 27-year-old training manager from Penkridge, has also been rewarded for charity work and will carry the torch through Stafford on May 30.

He was nominated after setting up the Penkridge and District Community First Responders charity while also working part-time for West Midlands Ambulance Service.

He said: "It's a real once in a lifetime opportunity."

Tom Bolton, aged 17, a sixth-form student from Burntwood, will help carry the torch through Lichfield after being nominated for charity work. Tom, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, has mainly raised cash for Comic Relief and Children in Need.

Also bearing it for Lichfield will be Ben Kenyon, a 15-year-old Nether Stowe High School pupil who has Asperger's syndrome.