Letter: Make Beverley shine today for Tour de Yorkshire

We are very grateful to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council for attracting the acclaimed cycle race to our town.

We are aware that ERYC may have made contact with you already regarding their arrangements with your school or organisation.

This is our time to make Beverley shine and celebrate this wonderful national sporting event starting in our town.

We understand that the event will be televised and will attract many residents and visitors.

This is a great opportunity to show people what a wonderful town Beverley is.

Beverley Town Council and the Chamber of Trade would like to ask the schools, college, community groups and churches to get involved with the following please:

1. Primary schools – To liaise with ERYC regarding involvement and watching the race start. If possible organise a non-uniform yellow and blue day, this can be in line with the official Tour de Yorkshire charity RNLI. Decorate flags provided by Beverley Town Council (please ring us when they are complete and we can pick them up and display them on route).

2. Senior schools and East Riding College – If possible to allow a break in the school day to watch the race (the start time is 11.50am, however the teams and publicity caravan will be in the Market Place from 9am).

If possible organise a Non Uniform yellow and blue day, this can be in line with the official Tour de Yorkshire charity RNLI.

3. Field art – For the schools to manage a piece of ‘Field or Land Art’ in planned open spaces in Beverley, with the race being filmed from the start by both street level and helicopter camera teams.

Students or community groups could simply place a piece of art they’ve created to tie in with the race or perform moving land art.

Remember it needs to be simple, bright, visual and non-permanent.

Check out the Tour de Yorkshire website for further land art ideas.

It could be anything as simple as blue and yellow sheets decorated with a cycle theme or as complicated as a bike stencil with the students moving as the spokes of a wheel when the helicopter flies over.

Please let us know if your school, college, community group or Church is prepared to manage a land art project, so that we can arrange an open space on the route and also inform the Tour de Yorkshire management team, who in turn inform the helicopters and the ground crew filming team.

4. Yellow and blue day – For everyone to wear yellow, blue or both colours together to watch the race in.

5. Decorated flags – School students to make or decorate flags with a theme of Beverley and the Tour de Yorkshire. These can be displayed along route by students or collected in and displayed on the Tour route.

6. School plywood bikes – We would like to use the plywood decorated bikes again that were decorated last year and hung along the route.

Andy Beet and Julian Minshall from the Chamber of Trade will be arranging the collection and will contact you all directly.

We are really hoping that all the schools, East Riding College, Community Groups and Churches will get involved to celebrate the Tour de Yorkshire start in Beverley and we look forward to your replies.

Peter Astell

Mayor of Beverley