THE flame to be carried by a Spalding Olympic torch bearer will shine even brighter now his sponsor has agreed to pay for it.
Thomas Giddings’ torch relay chums put out a plea in Tuesday’s Lincolnshire Free Press because they didn’t think it was fair Coca-Cola was allowing them to keep their’s without a charge, but Samsung wanted £199.
Thomas (19), of Pennine Way, was overwhelmed with the public response and was just £50 away from the target when he was contacted by Samsung. He said: “They said there had been an email error and I wasn’t going to be charged after all.
“It’s absolutely fantastic news, but I can’t say thank you enough to the people who came forward to help me. The community really did themselves proud.”
The sponsorship money has now been returned except for £50 donated to Lives First Responders, who Thomas is representing.