HUNDREDS of elderly residents living in 29 ExtraCare Charitable Trust retirement schemes and villages across the country, including many from Terry Spring Court in Redditch, are getting active in the run-up to the London 2012 Games, bearing their own torch in a 715-mile relay.

The torch will be coming to Redditch on June 8 and staying until June 14, when residents from Terry Spring Court, in Smallwood, will take it on to Coventry.

The ExtraCare Challenge, launched this week by former Olympic long-distance runner Dave Moorcroft, is a celebration of activity, health and social opportunity in later years.

Involving a mix of activities, including gyms, running, and cycling, and transportation, including hot air balloons, boats, and golf buggies, the ExtraCare torch’s five-month-long journey will finish at Shenley Wood Village in Milton Keynes on July 27, the day of the Olympic opening ceremony.

Nick Abbey, chief executive of The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, said he was looking forward to the ExtraCare Challenge. “It is a clear demonstration of our collective drive and imagination that we should unite and bear ExtraCare’s own Olympic torch from scheme to village and village to scheme – travelling to 29 sites.

“With thousands of miles and countless activities involved, culminating in a grand celebration at our brand new Shenley Wood Village next summer, I suspect it will be one heck of a trip.”