Olympic torch relay

Help Me Investigate in 2013 – and 2014

As Help Me Investigate starts to plan new investigations in 2014, it’s a good time to look back at what we’ve been up to over the last year across the four sites (not including this blog). It’s easy to forget how much you do in a year – thanks to the many contributors who made everything […]

Help Me Investigate now on Medium

Help Me Investigate now has a presence on the publishing platform Medium – you can find us at medium.com/@helpmeinvestig8 Our first story on the site is an updated version of the HMI Olympics longform ebook 8,000 Holes: How the Olympic Torch Relay Lost Its Way.

Torch relay story 8,000 Holes now on Medium

Help Me Investigate’s ebook 8,000 Holes: How the Olympic Torch Relay Lost Its Way has been published on the longform writing site Medium. The story is Help Me Investigate’s first venture on the platform: you can follow the account here.

The £6.5m cost of policing the Olympic Torch – get the data

Policing the Olympic torch procession cost taxpayers almost £6.5m nationally, according to a series of Freedom of Information requests by Gesbeen Mohammad. The spending includes the costs incurred to local police authorities throughout the UK for the 56 days the … Continue reading

The £1m cost of policing the Northern Ireland Olympic torch relay

Help Me Investigate contributor Gesbeen Mohammad has written for Northern Ireland investigative site The Muckraker on the costs of policing the Olympic Torch Relay in the region. She writes: “The final bill for taxpayers came to £1,029,749 – £205,950 for … Continue reading

Wealthy London boroughs paid less for Olympic Torch Relay – investigation

London boroughs with the poorest populations paid more to host Olympic Torch Relay events, while more affluent boroughs spent nothing, according to an investigation by Help Me Investigation users. Waltham Forest spent over £250,000 whereas Westminster incurred no costs. Government data … Continue reading

Council silence over “destroyed” correspondence with Olympic body

One council appeared to save hundreds of thousands of pounds on the Olympic Torch Relay by getting Olympic organisers LOCOG to pay their costs – but for six months they have denied having any records of how that happened. Carol … Continue reading

Press Association repeats Olympic torch relay costs investigation – 3 months after Help Me Investigate

The Press Association has picked up on the costs of the Olympic torch relay as it reports on the anniversary of the start of the event Dozens of regional newspapers across the UK have published the newswire story on the … Continue reading

Correction: CCTV spending by Aberdeen City, not Aberdeenshire Council

We previously reported that Aberdeenshire had spent part of their torch relay funds on CCTV. This should have said Aberdeen City Council. We apologise for the error. The original post, and the database, have been corrected. Aberdeen City Council’s torch relay expenditure … Continue reading

Correction: CCTV spending by Aberdeen City, not Aberdeenshire Council

We previously reported that Aberdeenshire had spent part of their torch relay funds on CCTV. This should have said Aberdeen City Council. We apologise for the error. The original post, and the database, have been corrected. Aberdeen City Council’s torch relay expenditure … Continue reading