the whole town wide. pauline black s day comes to an end in broadgate, underneath the river and canopy of coffa s tree. # shelter from the storm, shade from the sun. words of hope written on the ribbons by the people of coventry. their aspirations for the future of the city. legend has it that coffa s tree was a tree planted by a man named coffa, by the settlement when it was first built up by the river, so that people from all around could see where the settlement was and come to it with ease, and coffa s tree over the years apparently became cove ntry . the banners on the approaches are designed by local schoolchildren, reflecting the themes of today s event. three of them, daniel, frankie and christian, along with teacher nina, are from the coventry extended learning centre, a pupil
do feel privileged. i m so excited! an apple for you, nice granny smith. as the lady godivas get ready, the streets reverberate to a different sound. cars, all of them at one time or another made in coventry. the motorcade stops at various points on its journey through the city. 0utleap dancers irish, caribbean, bollywood, each routine a tribute to the different migrant communities that came to coventry to help rebuild after the destruction of the war. i think everybody on the street really needed that after the past 18 months. and just to have that happen on our street, it has cheered everyone up.
i grew up born and bred in coventry, the city of villains, yeah! yeah, and i knew i wanted more, i knew there was a greater calling and a purpose for me out there, and i ve come across dancing on the tv and i wasn t exposed to these kind of things, it wasn t, like, not that it wasn t acceptable, but it was so unconventional and so far away from me, you know? i m from coventry and being able to be a part of it here and especially being with louis as well, like, it s just crazy. some people put coventry down and i think you have to leave it to really appreciate kind of like the resilience of the city and how strong we all are, and how diverse everyone is and how, just, we re a community. on their way into the city centre, the river runners encounter six exotically dressed energies making up the spirit of the city. all well known coventry faces like paralympian sprinter harriet dennigan. i m the energy of resilience, and coventry has a history
i ve won the american nationals twice, i won the scottish nationals, the all scotlands, the great britains, and yeah, i ve been very successful. their rehearsal studio is tucked in behind the old standard triumph club, a social hub surrounded by production lines churning out cars with household names. a reminder of an industry that once employed generations of coventry workers. 0ur grandparents came over to work in the building industry, over 50 years ago and one of the things that they were involved in building was the ring road. and they set their roots here, built theirfamily here, and our whole family has just been in coventry ever since. can ijust see you pointing at the person you re going to have a connection with? during rehearsals, the sisters find themselves sharing their skills with their fellow dancers.
opportunity and to be a part of something that is going to be so worldwide and hopefully that will go down in history is something that was amazing, to be a part of that is something that hopefully i could share that with my family in the future and they would be proud of me. rena and her fellow godivas are now on their way into the city centre, on their mission to deliver their manifesto to the city s politicians. i m going to be so proud, i hope i represent all the voices of everybody in coventry, notjust women, absolutely everybody. so i am representing the whole city. 0n the opposite side of the city, the streets are streaming with bikes and tricycles. pedal power one of many lifechanging innovations that coventry can take credit for. it was the first place to mass produce a bicycle. that is something that feels really important in terms of the city s democratic heritage.