A school governor who was given the honour of carrying the Olympic torch in Leicester dropped in to show it off to pupils yesterday.
Rushey Mead Primary governor Bhasker Solanki proudly showed off his torch to pupils at the school.
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Through his work as an international award-winning BBC cameraman, the 52-year-old has helped to highlight world poverty, and has filmed in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
In Albania, Bhasker’s pictures showed the world the tragedy of disabled children living in degrading conditions. his work led to national newspaper campaigns and the president of the country honouring him with the highest civilian honour – the Mother Teresa Award. Bhasker has won other prizes, including one from Amnesty International for his work in Rwanda.
While filming the Bhuj earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, he was so shocked at the plight of the children that he raised thousands of pounds to set up a children’s school through the Rushey Mead Foundation.
Debra Bailey, head of the primary school, said: “it was fantastic to have him in school with the torch. the children were excited and it made it all very real to them.
“we were very lucky to have Bhasker come in and talk to us about it and we’re all very proud of him.”