Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Mike Kapur OBE, discusses plans to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee 2022.
I am very much looking forward to 2022 as it will be a very special year for Her Majesty The Queen, becoming the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 fantastic years on the throne.
In celebration of this event, an exciting week of national activities is being planned during June 2022 across an extended bank holiday weekend. Local initiatives will be taking place across Leicestershire to ensure everyone has an opportunity to join in with the celebrations.
As is traditional for Jubilee years, beacons will be lit in every commonwealth city on the night of Thursday 2 June 2022 to mark the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation. Community groups and councils across the UK are being encouraged to join in with this initiative and to register their beacons on the official website and I am delighted that, here in Leicestershire, plans are already being made for beacons to be lit, so we can play a part in forming a chain of over 1,500 beacons across the UK.
In addition, a “Big Lunch” event is planned for Sunday 5 June 2022, encouraging us all to come together to celebrate within our communities by holding street parties with flags and bunting (optional), or more simply, through the sharing of a meal or a cup of tea with friends and neighbours. Bringing people together in this way always seems to create great memories for the young and old alike.
Since October last year, The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative has been in action — with groups, communities, businesses, and individuals being encouraged to ‘plant a tree for the Jubilee’ with the aim of improving the environment, increasing our green spaces and to ultimately benefit future generations.
One aspect of this initiative has seen 69 trees gifted to city schools across the UK with the first tree being planted by Her Majesty in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Here in Leicester, I was honoured to present a celebration tree to the Alderman Richard Hallam Primary School which will see the school firmly fixed in British history forever.
I will also be hosting a special “70 at 70” garden party at Beaumanor Hall, which will see 70 Leicestershire residents who turn 70 this year being invited to join me to mark the Jubilee. If you would like to apply for a place, either for yourself or for a friend or relative, please contact the Lieutenancy office.
Why don’t you consider making plans for the forthcoming Jubilee? More information is available at: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/platinum-jubilee
