A NEW sculpture celebrating the Olympic spirit was unveiled by deputy mayor of Ely, Councillor Elizabeth Every, on Saturday afternoon during a music event where a selection of bands and rappers performed in the city’s Jubilee Gardens.

The carving was created as part of a nationally funded project ‘Winning Words’ that encouraged young people to produce poems and raps that embodied the Olympic spirit.

Arts organisation ADeC organised two workshops at the YPL Music Rooms in Littleport last summer, when young people were led by the professional rapper ‘Cire’.

Part of one of the resulting raps - written by beatboxer Stephen Malkin and rapper Jay Bryant of Littleport - has been carved into a round stone which was positioned next to the Babylon Gallery at Ely Waterside.

The rap is called ‘All It Takes Is Belief’ and was performed when the Paralympic Flame visited Ely last August.

The carving has been produced by professional stone carver Tom Perkins whose work can also be seen in Buckingham Palace. The stone has been designed to represent a vinyl record with the text circling around the centre.

The text on the stone reads:

It’s all about finding that spark inside,

Once it ignites it starts to shine bright,

It lights up the dark, the dark inside,

You open your eyes, realise

...all it takes is belief