OLYMPIC athletes past and present will head a campaign to revitalise Wallingford’s major public events by attracting more people to help organise them.

They will attend a university-style Freshers’ Fair in the town hall, organised by deputy mayor Dee Cripps, alongside people who run such events as the town’s pancake race, carnival, fun day, raft race and regatta.

Rowers from Wallingford Rowing Club, who were at the Beijing Olympics this year, will rub shoulders with the country’s youngest Olympian, Ken Lester, 60, of Wallingford, who competed in Rome in 1960 at the age of 13, and Ann Packer, of Moulsford, who won gold in the 800m in the 1964 Olympics.

Ms Cripps said: “These wonderful people show what can be achieved with determination and dedication. We hope their status will attract people to the town hall Freshers’ Fair and encourage them to help their town by offering help to the various organisations who put on our big public events.

“These events are wonderful to go to, but they do not suddenly appear — a lot of hard work goes into them so that the public can have a great time.”

The fair will see the launch of a Wallingford video made by Nick Brazil, which has included many of the major events in the town and the launch of the new calendar of events and the Wallingford Experience, which has been devised by Ms Cripps.

She said: “A lot has been said about the events being in danger because the organisers are getting older and not able to undertake the tasks.

“But we believe there are enough public-spirited people in Wallingford willing to come forward and offer help.

“So this Freshers’ Fair will be a very positive event, showing what can be done, rather than dwelling on problems.Walling-ford is a great place and we want to maintain our big public events and this will give people an opportunity to give something back to the town.”

Two factors that concern the organisers of events is the rising cost of insurance and the need for lavatories on site. Wallingford Partnership, an independent organisation working to improve facilities in the town generally, is looking to see if it can help by negotiating insurance deals and providing mobile lavatories.

Partnership chairman Derrick Hoare said he would do everything he could to ease those burdens.

At the fair in the town hall on Saturday, January 24, will be representatives from the service organisations, like Lions, Rotary and Rotaract — the Round Table disbanded earlier this year because of lack of support, the Blues and Beer Festival, carnival, fun day, BunkFest, the classic car rally, the Corn Exchange theatre, Cholsey and Wallingford Railway, the hospital League of Friends, the museum, local producers’ and farmers’ markets, the pancake race, Thames Run and gardening society.

Ms Cripps said: “We hope to get more people showcasing their activities and the events they run to make the Freshers’ Fair an event which will secure the future of so many events in Wallingford.”