A volunteer’s view of the London 2012 Olympic flame on The Royal Barge Gloriana at Richmond

London Event Reviews by May B

A while back – in a rare moment of community spirit – I volunteered to help the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames and the Metropolitan Police with getting the visitors safely to the riverside to see the Olympic flame on the Gloriana pass through Richmond on its way to the opening ceremony.

I had attended a briefing session at Twickenham town hall and received a bright messenger bag full of Visit Richmond flags, books of local discount vouchers and, most importantly, maps showing the routes for the Olympic flame (it came twice – earlier in the week by road and today by river) and the various cycle events through Richmond Park and Bushey Park. We were instructed to wear black and our “Richmond VIP” yellow sashes with pride.

So I left home this morning at 6am to get the train from Whitton so that I could enjoy a cup of coffee before our duties started at 7am. A final briefing from our team leader and we were sent off to stand near Tesco. In my small group there was a local woman my age as well as a young African student from Elephant and Castle and an Asian girl from South London. We watched the council employees wash and sweep the streets to ensure that everything was spick and span.

There was hardly any traffic – clearly everyone had decided to leave their cars at home. And then the people started arriving. It was gratifying that there were as many locals out and about as there were tourists and visitors. Everyone was in a cheery mood – despite the weather forecast for rain at 10am. Kids waved flags, tourists peered at maps and locals enquired about road closure times.

After dispensing information and chatting to everyone – there was a real holiday feel despite it being a normal working Friday – we wandered down to the riverside where we were told that due to a bit of a problem with the lock at Teddington the barge was likely to arrive about 30 minutes after it’s scheduled 915am arrival time.
It was great to be a part of the crowd and the sun shone. Finally, the Police boats arrived and I have to say that both their larger boats and the smaller RIB vessels were manned by extremely jolly police officers who were clearly in the party spirit.

And then the barge came into view with a huge cheer from the crowd and lots of bell ringing. It was much closer than when I saw it at the Jubilee River Pageant - it's magnificent. It took a few minutes for it to pass by so we had ample opportunity to take lots of photographs. The flotilla of small rowing boats behind it was cheered enthusiastically as well.

And within five minutes of the Gloriana passing the heavens opened and we were all drenched with rain. But at least we were part of an historic moment. And I have finally got some Olympic spirit – Go Team GB!

Posted Date
Jul 27, 2012 in London Event Reviews by May B by May B