Grapevine Photo Competition!

The Grapevine is offering two prizes, one of £25 for adults (age 17 and over) and one of £10 for children, for the best digital photo portraying some aspect of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Flackwell (technical excellence less important than the subject). The winning photos will be printed in the July Grapevine, a Jubilee Souvenir issue. As we shall have extra pages, we hope to print many other photos.

Entries (not more than 5 per entrant) to be sent to grapevine@flackwellheath.net by 10 June, with name, age group and contact details. For any featured children, their parents' permission to publish must be obtained. Photos will be judged anonymously.

Entrants must agree that we can publish in The Grapevine if we wish without charge (although you will keep the copyright) and that the new Local History Group and SWOP can keep archive copies of all the entries to record this historic occasion.

Get snapping!

Sue Arnautov, Editor

It all started last September. Pam Mannering asked her Residents’ Association Committee 'What should we do about the Diamond Jubilee?' They set up a meeting and six organisations attended: RBL, Morning and Evening WIs, FH Community Association, FH Residents Association and the Scouts. There are now over 35 Flackwell organisations contributing to the celebrations.

Saturday 2 June

Morning: the place to be is the Community Centre. You will be attracted by the sound of the Jenny Coutts' band playing an eclectic mixture of traditional and modern Jazz. The Information Point will help you plan your three days of celebration. They will also sell you tickets for Monday’s Festival of Music (see page 4) and give you all you need for the three Footloose in Flackwell trails (see below).

In the large hall you will find a display of art with a royal theme by the pupils of the Carrington and Juniper Hill Schools. At one end of the hall our Women’s Institutes will be serving tea, coffee and cakes. And at the other end Paul Lowe hopes to have some orchids in bloom. Paul loves talking about orchids and he will happily advise you on looking after them and propagation.

The Sarney Room concentrates on the social history of Flackwell Heath. The Grapevine stall simply asks you to mark on a map where you were born to show how many had the luck to be born here and how many had the wisdom to choose to come. Results in the July Grapevine.

Our new Flackwell and Loudwater Local History Group invites you to explore the history of the village and its surrounding

farmland. They will also be showing what everyday life was like 60 years ago.

Footloose in Flackwell has three separate fun trails around the village, solving clues, discovering royal connections and spotting the Crowns! Suitable for all ages. Trail sheets from the Information Point above.

At lunch time most of the pubs, shops, restaurants and Tricia, the hot potato lady, will be selling street food (take aways).

Afternoon

At 1.30 at the War Memorial the Royal British Legion will remember those killed or wounded over the last sixty years. Led by Rev Christopher Bull.

The new Jubilee Garden will be opened at 2pm by Cllr Katrina Woods.

The music at the Community Centre will be provided by Alex Routledge. 'Jazz infused chords blurring the lines between Romantic classical music and modern jazz'.

On the Straight Bit Recreation Ground from 1.30 to 3.30 Kobika Starlite Cheerleading Squads are offering a free 2 hour cheerleading workshop that everyone is welcome to join in - adults too! You can do 30 minutes or two hours. It’s up to you. Please wear trainers.

Off Piste Activities

Ray and Ivan Smith were the writers of the very popular series of Grapevine articles a couple of years ago about the wildlife on Pigeon House Farm. This guided walk is open to children and adults who can keep going for two hours. Meet Ray at the allotments at the far end of Chapel Road at 11 am on 2 June.

From 11am to 5pm Trevor and Janet Jones will be opening their fascinating garden at 42 Whitepit Lane. Their front garden is inspired by the seaside. The rear garden has many unusual and rare plants. Set around it is an 00 gauge railway with stations, tunnels and bridges. NB With narrow paths and steps it is, regrettably, unsuitable for the disabled or very young.

See page 4 for Monday's Music Festival.

FLACKWELL HEATH

COMMUNITY ASSOCIATONPresents

BODGER'S WOODBARN DANCE

SATURDAY 12th MAY

Tickets £10 Includes Supper

Community Centre at 7.30pm

For Tickets Call:

01628 522751

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F F L A C K W E L L H E A T H C O M M U N I T Y A S S O C I A T I O N

GrapevineGrapevine 50p

COMMUNITY NEWS IDEAS DATES SUGGESTIONS EVENTS POINTS OF VIEW NEWS

THE

May‘12

Diamond Jubilee Plans

1

Flackwell Heath Local History GroupThe Flackwell Heath and Loudwater Local History Group will be mounting an exhibition in the Sarney Room for the Jubilee celebrations. This will consist of photographs, items of interest, and personal reminiscences of life in the villages in the 1950s, together with photographs of the several visits the Queen has made to the Wycombe area during her reign.

The Group welcome new members, and also contributions to the exhibition. Please contact Mike Dewey on 01628 525207 or deweymiked@aol.com.

RAF DAWS HILL – We have now received revised dates for the next public consultation which will take place in the Daws Hill Site Office on:

Thursday 3 May from 10 am to 2 pm

Friday 4 May from 2 pm to 6 pm

Saturday 5 May from10 am to 2 pm

For further information regarding the consultation progress see the FHRA section of the website: www.flackwellheath.net

OLD NURSERY SITE – With the installation of the high metal security gates, WDC contacted the new owners to discuss their intentions for the site. When further works ensued without planning permission, WDC successfully obtained a High Court Injunction on 7 March to prevent any further works requiring planning permission taking place.

LITTER PICK – Our next litter pick will be from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm on Saturday 26 May. This is exactly one week from the commencement of the village Diamond Jubilee Celebrations so please support us and come out to help tidy the village beforehand. We are also hoping that some of the village organisations will help with this tidy up during the week.

DIAMOND JUBILEE – We would love to receive all the bottles/jars you can spare us for the ‘Bottle Tombola’ we are hoping to run starting at the events on Saturday 2 June.

CHERRY FAYRE – We are running our bookstall again on July 8 and would love to receive any books you can spare.

Carolyn Leonard Chair of FHRA Planning and Environment Group 01628526512

fhra-planning-environment@ flackwellheath.net

JUBILEE GARDEN – The garden really seems to be taking shape now, especially since the sleepers were laid by Henry Rimmer of Ferndale Landscapes. Henry donated his time to us and we are very grateful for this. Also a big thank you to those who came and helped us plant the six cherry trees. At the moment we are finishing laying turf but due to the necessity of keeping it watered have only done the corner where the grass was worn out and the patch where a huge patch of ivy was dug out. We

hope to lay more in the autumn. We hope to start planting shrubs shortly and will start with those we were able to save when the ground was cleared. We have been grateful to all of you who have stopped by with positive comments and encouragement but would also love to hear from any folk who would like to help us with the final stages of the garden; all the really hard work is done now, so it is a bit of light digging, planting and watering we would like help with.

Carolyn Leonard

FLACKWELL HEATH Residents’ Association PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT GROUP

JUBILEE CHAIRWe continue to raise funds for the Jubilee Garden. A Windsor chair donated by furniture maker Stewart Linford is to be auction by sealed bid. To win this beautiful chair, write out your name, address, telephone number, most importantly the date and the amount of your bid. Place this in an envelope and put it into the box at Daisy’s gift shop, by 5pm on 18 May. You will be informed of your success at the end of May, and the lucky person will be presented the chair on Saturday 2 June when the garden is officially opened.

Liz Johncock

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Polly ReadOn May 5 there will be an Exhibition of the late Polly Read's Quilts, Patchwork and sale of patchworking sundries at Christ Church, 10.30 - 12.30, in aid of the British Lung Foundation and other charities.

MethodistsIt was really good to share the message of Easter with folk in the community when we distributed Hot Cross Buns around the village on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Our regular SUNDAY WORSHIP services continue at 11am and 6.30pm.

Our SUNDAY LIVE! service is on 13 May and will be led by Peter Stevens and the Church team - starting with bacon butties at 10.15am.

Please join us and get know us and we will show you what God’s love means to us.

On 13 May there is a Circuit Evening Service at Marlow Bottom Methodist Church - so no evening service planned at our Church that evening.

On Saturday mornings from 10.00-12.00 our Coffee Mornings are open to everyone passing by. Sometimes we have special fund-raising mornings for a local or international charity.

GIRLS’ BRIGADE meets on Tuesday evenings from 5.45 - 7.30pm for girls between the ages of 5-16+

PARENT, CARERS and TODDLERS GROUP meets on Wednesday mornings from 9.00-11.30am for families with pre-school children.

FELLOWSHIP GROUPS meet on Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings

CAP Money courses are planned at our Church and at Christ Church during May - please phone 01628-533004 or 520901 for details.

We are arranging to hold PLAY AND PRAISE time on Friday mornings from 10.00-11.00am at the church for families with young children to spend time together, with stories, singing and sharing about Jesus and His love for us all - and there will be time for coffees and chatting too. We are looking forward for this to be up and running in May.

CAP Money: Need to manage your money better? Worried about your debts? Christ Church and the Methodist Chapel are working together to offer straightforward money management courses to the Flackwell Heath community. The 3-evening CAP Money course has helped thousands improve their money management. You get to access a totally free and 100% confidential debt management service which has already helped many people become debt-free from seemingly hopeless situations. Although offered by the churches this course does not require any expression of faith. The next course runs on 3, 10 and 17 May. (CAP stands for Christians Against Poverty, a 15 year old rapidly expanding national charity)

Christian Aid Week 13 – 19 May: You can make a difference! Christian Aid started as the churches’ response to the refugee crisis in Europe after the Second World War. Funds raised go to those who need it most and is sent through partner organisations that are best placed to make a difference on the ground. To find out more please go to: www.christianaid.org.uk. This year we are holding two fundraising events:

A Bread & Cheese lunch on Tuesday 15 May 12noon – 1.30pm (please book so we can cater properly)

A Plant Sale with Car Wash, Cake Stall & Refreshments on Saturday 19 May 10.00am – 12.30pm.

Ascension Day: Remember when you used to get the day off school for Ascension Day? Sadly this no longer

happens… but you can still remember the Ascension with

Holy Communion at 8.00pm on Thursday 17 May. All welcome.

“Flackwell Heath down the Years” - Monday 28 May to Saturday 2 June: Christ Church is hosting an exhibition using its unique collection of Flackwell photographs during May and June. It is open 9.00am to 1.00pm Monday to Friday, and 10.00am to 1.00pm on Saturday. The Church Baptism and Marriage Registers will also be available for inspection on the Saturday... and if you, or anyone you know, was baptised or married in Flackwell Heath in the 1950’s we would particularly love to meet you.

Sunday 3 June – Diamond Jubilee Weekend: 8.30am: Holy Communion Service, with sermon focussing on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and at 12.30pm: “The Diamond Jubilee Big Lunch”... an open-to-all event for Flackwell Heath to just come along, bring some food to contribute to a buffet lunch, and share together in a Sunday lunch with others to celebrate the Jubilee. A sign-up sheet is available in the Church Office.

Details of others activities and services for all ages are available at www.ccfh.org.uk or call the Church Office in Chapel Road: 01628 533004 (9.00am – 1.00pm Monday to Friday).

3

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Goodbye and Thank You!

Saturday March 31 was the last day of the 'old regime' at the Library i.e. the last day for the staff employed by Bucks. County Council. (In future, the Library will operate as a 'Community Library'; re-opening on April 17, the Grand Opening was scheduled for 28 April, after we went to press.)

Many people called in at the Library to express their thanks and say 'Goodbye' to, from the left, Jane Birtwistle, Jenni Warwick, Pat Brannigan, Alison Harvey and Sylvia Riley.

Photo: Helen Goreham

New Chairman for FHCAAt the AGM on 18 April, Chris Cramer was elected the new Chairman of the Community Association. (The association runs the Community Centre and is the publisher of The Grapevine.) Danny Murphy, the outgoing Chairman, and his wife Annina have moved to Bournemouth on his promotion at work. The FHCA would like to thank both of them for all the work they put in for the Association, and wish them well in their new home. Also retiring are Mike Davies, Facilities Manager, and Chris and Lyn Taylor who have kept the garden in shape for years. They too were heartily thanked, along with those continuing in post. Building and finances are in good shape.

Sue Arnautov

The Diamond J u b i l e e Music FestivalOn the Carrington School field at the end of Chapel Road on Monday 4 June. Gates open 4pm, performance starts about 4.30. It's a great line-up, with something for everybody. Kobika’s dancers will give a thrilling display of their art and skills. The Heath Singers will be there, as will six of the best groups and local bands, presenting a jubilee of music from rock and roll to classic hits, reggae and soca.

When you want something to eat or drink you can join your friends in the tea tent, or in the bar run by the Golf Club, perhaps a visit to the pig roast or the BBQ or Radhuni. They say the jacket potatoes with a choice of fillings are pretty good. Or buy the kids an ice cream.

Later the Beacon will be lit and the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts will renew their Promise. Then comes the finale of the evening and the Festival will end at about 10pm.

Tickets for the Music Festival will be available from Daisy Gifts, Unit 4, Express Video and on Saturday 2 June from the Information Point in the Community Centre.

Children under 6 and Beavers, Cubs & Scouts in uniform enter free. Tickets bought in advance £5. Buy four and get a fifth one free. Tickets bought at the gate £6, with no free tickets.

Tim Kendell

DAY CENTREMarch saw three fund-raising events organised by members of the Flackwell Heath Age Concern Day Centre.

First was a musical quiz when nine teams tested their knowledge (and recall) of well-loved light hearted music over ten rounds covering different themes. The winners were a team from Thames Valley Orienteers; they led for most of the way but came unstuck on ‘body parts’; however they recovered with a wide knowledge of ‘creatures’.

A week later the Centre hosted Chocaholics. Visitors sat over coffee and cake whilst perusing a mouth-watering catalogue. All seemed to be impressed by the very attractive and reasonably priced range of products. A further session is planned in the run up to Christmas.

Finally, the Ladies’ Indulgence Evening, postponed from November, offered various versions of pampering to grateful clients. Most popular seemed to be reflexology but all the offerings were appreciated and the whole event provided a very enjoyable social evening.

The combined events raised just under £1000 for the Centre.

Barrie Walmsley

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Neighbourhood Watch News May 2012Goodbye ‘Community Messaging/Ringmaster’ – Hello ‘Thames Valley Alert’

The change has finally been implemented, and Thames Valley Police (TVP) are now using the same system as the Home Office supported ‘Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network’ tailored to meet TVP’s particular needs. Everyone who was previously registered to receive Community Messaging or Ringmaster should by now have received a ‘Welcome’ e-mail directing them to this new and improved service. Existing recipients of Community Messaging will continue to receive news and information relevant to where they live and work. However, they will also have the opportunity to enhance the type of service they receive by selecting the message types and information of particular interest to them. As well as keeping residents up to date, TVP want to be able to ask our opinions on policing and what they can change to make their services more effective for when we do need them. The system also provides a range of online scheme management tools to assist users to see their local scheme and find new members. The new service can be found at: www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk/ where existing users can sign-in using the User Name and Password included in the Welcome e-mail. If you are interested in participating, you can also apply to join the network.

NEW Crime Prevention website launched

Retired Metropolitan Police Officer Calvin Beckford - a crime prevention specialist and author, has recently launched a new web-site claiming to provide the largest and most

comprehensive online resource for free Crime Prevention and Home Security advice. There are specific sections on

Home Security, Vehicles & Bikes and Personal Security,

as well as an intriguing section on Problem Solving.

One particularly useful feature is an online ‘Home Security Survey’ which will assess your current level of security and suggest areas where you can improve matters. The site can be found at:

www.thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/

If you are interested in the broader aspects of crime prevention, you might also like to visit the Crime Reduction Partnership web-site at:

www.crp-news.com/

Finally, have YOU adjusted to Summertime (BST)?

A belated reminder that you need to adjust any security timers that you may use, to reflect the change to BST. Many modern electronic timers have a simple process for making the change to BST in the Spring and back to GMT in the Autumn – often referred to as adjusting for Daylight Saving Time (DST).

For further information about any of these topics or about Neighbourhood Watch, contact:

David Gresswell Area Co-ordinator, Flackwell Heath

Tel: 525019 e-mail: flackwell-nhwatch@talktalk.net

Police General & Non-emergency number: 101

Public Safety Team (Anti-social behaviour): 01494 421087

Crimestoppers (Anonymous): 0800 555 111

Trading Standards (Consumer Direct): 0808 156 2259 (NEW) [Now called Citizens Advice – Consumer Helpline]

Queen's Award

A company owned by a Flackwell family has just received the Queen's Award for Enterprise – for International Trade. Matthew and Sara Durston have lived in Flackwell for 12 years with their four daughters. Their eldest daughter, Lucinda, has recently started to work for the company. The firm, Durston Rolling Mills, is based in High Wycombe and makes mills for rolling gold and silver. They are especially pleased to get the award in Jubilee Year. More details next month.

Sue Arnautov

5

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REAL CRAFT FAIR Flackwell Heath

Community Centre

Saturday, May 5th 10.30 am – 4.30 pm

All Genuine Crafts – Free Admission Refreshments Available

Some members joined the crowds of ladies at the Waterside Theatre for the Bucks Federation Council meeting. Interspersed with business and presentation of awards were interesting speakers. The most popular of these was Adam Henson, TV presenter and farmer. Jackey Hill of the Evening WI came second in the Craft Challenge Cup competition, with a tea-cosy covered in meadow flowers and a bee on top. She also won (in a lottery) a bursary of £250 which she will spend on a craft course.

At the May meetings, members will discuss the resolution on midwives

coming up at the National AGM, and instruct their delegates how to vote.

Morning WI

We celebrated our 20th birthday at the April meeting. Visitors and members were entertained by Jean Orford with her reminiscences, cuttings and poems. She ended her session by producing a lovely flower arrangement, chatting all the time. The excellent buffet lunch was provided by members.

The date for the Group Outing to Stratford-on-Avon has been changed to May 23.

Congratulations to the Quiz Team,

which came third out of 37 entries in the South Bucks area; they go on to the 3-Counties final.

Sadly, one of our most enthusiastic and hard-working members, Jacqui Veitch, died in March after a battle with cancer. A very caring person, we will all miss her.

The next meeting is on May 2.

Evening WI

Neil Rees told us about King Zog of Albania, and the time he spent in Frieth and Lane End during the war. Neil has worked in Albania and knows some of the King's descendants.

The Group Meeting that we hosted was an enjoyable evening. Mervyn Edwards was informative and entertaining on his time in the Police Service, showing us some of the weapons he had been up against and the equipment he had used for his defence. This included his old wooden truncheon still carrying teeth marks from dog in Gerrards Cross and a modern baton – a big change!

We are holding a Plant and Cake Sale at the Community Centre on May 26, 10 – 12.

Jean Worth and Sue Arnautov

Dates For Your Diary

May

Saturday 5 A J Real Craft Fair, 10.30am – 4.30pm at the Community Centre

Saturday 5 Exhibition of Polly Read's Quilts, Patchwork and sale of patchworking sundries at ChristChurch, 10.30 - 12.30.

Saturday 12 FHCA Barn Dance at Community Centre, 7.30pm, £10 incl. supper, see page 1

Tuesday 15 ChristChurch Christian Aid Bread and Cheese Lunch, Noon – 1.30pm

Tuesday 15 Age UK Day Centre AGM, 7.30pm at Centre, open to all.

Saturday 19 ChristChurch Christian Aid Event: Plant sale, Car wash, Cake stall etc. 10am – noon.

Friday 25 Fun Day for Diabetes UK at 227 Blind Lane, 9 – 5pm for all ages, and 6 – 10pm Cheese and Wine party.

Saturday 26 WI Plant and Cake Sale, 10 – 12 at Community Centre

Sunday 27 Bowls Club Open Day (Straight Bit Rec.), 10am – 3pm

June

Saturday 2 – Monday 4

Diamond Jubilee Celebrations – see pages 1 and 4

Friday 22 Music Quiz at Christ Church, 7.30 for 7.45pm, tickets £10 – see page5

Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28

Heath Singers Concerts at ChristChurch, 8pm – see page 7

Flackwell Heath Women’s Institute

Flackwell AmblersIf you would like to join us on Sunday 20 May, 2012, The Flackwell Amblers will be going for a walk at Hodgemoor Woods, Chalfont St.Giles. We will be meeting at Budgen’s car park at 10 am. This walk will last approximately 2 hours and is undertaken at your own risk. Please wear walking boots or strong shoes. N.B. This walk may be subject to change at short notice due to prevailing weather conditions. (Parking charge may apply).

The next date for your diary is Sunday 24 June, 2012.

C.Barker

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The Heath SingersIN CONCERT

Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 June

Christ Church Flackwell Heath at

8pm

£8 to include interval drink

Tickets available from 1 June from

Pam Gresswell 01628 525019

Children at Carrington Junior School have been very busy this term with various fund raising events. In February they very

much enjoyed wearing their caps and hats of all shapes and sizes to school to raise funds for the children’s cancer charity Caps 4 Kids. We raised just over £160 which was so generous!

In March the school went sports crazy, when Year 6 organised a whole series of events for Sports Relief on March 23. The children took part in skipping, beat the goalie, netball and football tournaments, street dancing and running events. Many pupils also baked cakes and biscuits and raised extra money through their sale at breaktime. The children raised a record total of £1,162! We would like to thank every parent, carer, child and relative who donated to this huge total.

World Book Day was another HUGE success as we dressed up as a book character for the day. There were cowboys and policemen and princesses and a lovely day was had by all, even the staff dressed up as their favourite characters.

The Year 6 children have just returned from another successful residential field trip to the PGL centre in Shropshire. Their days were packed with raftbuilding, kayaking, abseiling and climbing and as always the weather was kind and the children had the time of their lives.

J Gardener

Juniper Hill pupils are enjoying a very successful year as part of the Wye Valley Sports Partnership. Wye Valley School in Bourne End, which many Juniper Hill pupils go on to attend, has been running coaching and competition events this year for local primary schools. Our sports teams across the year groups have done very well in many of the tournaments and it has encouraged many children to try out new sports, which we hope they will continue to participate in. The latest newsletter from the Wye Valley organisers lists no less than ten Juniper Hill team and individual winners. We are particularly proud of the Year 4 athletics team, and the Year 5 and Year 6 basketball teams who all won their district competitions.

Juniper’s co-ordinator, Year 6 teacher John Ginzler-Ring, has worked hard to include as many children as possible in sport in school too, both in team games such as football, basketball and netball, and innovative activities such as orienteering. Parents with sporting experience have made a big contribution, especially Colin James who has enthused our hockey players.

Pupils have really enjoyed the opportunities created for them. Rachel from Year 6 said “This year has been amazing. Mr G-R has organised so many events and it has been brilliant!”

Fun Day for Diabetes UKFor the last 3 years I have held a 'fun day' at my house in aid of Diabetes UK. This year it is on Friday May 25. From 9.00am - 5.00pm we are having tea/coffee with lots of competitions. We will have face painting, name the teddy, how many jelly beans and a children's tombola.

There will be a Grand Draw with over 50 prizes very kindly donated by hotels, restaurants, beauty and hair dressing salons and lots of children's prizes e.g. Odds Farm, Bekonscot, swimming

sessions, Hellfire Caves and many more.

From 6.00pm-10.00pm (although it went on until after midnight last year!) we are having a cheese and wine party with all the competitions still running, as well as mini manicures and a cooking demonstration at 8.00pm (if we have enough room!).

We will also have a table top sale outside all day.

The address is 227 Blind Lane, Flackwell Heath. All welcome!

Carol Bailey

Sports Partnership Success for

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With 114 days to go to the Olympic Games, and 147 days to the Paralympics as I write, I reflect on what the journey so far has been like. It all began for me in July 2005 when London won the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. It was a long ways away, but was such exciting news. Fast forward to 2010 when a casual conversation with my physiotherapist made me realise that even “people like me” would be required. 70,000 volunteers were sought after for a huge range of roles. My IT background led me to put in an application for a Technology role in October 2010. After hearing that 250,000 people had applied for those 70,000 roles, I wasn't filled with confidence. But, I was granted an interview in May 2011 so was hopeful. It was lovely to see the diverse group of people at my interview: people of all ages, races and backgrounds who wanted to be a part of this great event.

I was then invited to participate in the Tae Kwon Do Test Event in August 2011. With my extensive background in Tae Kwon Do and other martial arts, this was such an exciting event to be a part of. From age 11, I studied Shotokan Karate and Judo (both originating in Japan), and Tae Kwon Do, a Korean martial art similar to Karate. I participated in competitions into my late teenage years with various organised clubs. I attained the rank of 1st Degree Black Belt in 1994. As an adult I became more interested in instruction and left competition to the younger crowd, though I still attended tournaments.

Test Events were held at all the major Olympic venues to ensure every aspect worked to plan. The people I worked with, both paid and volunteers, were amazing and their attitudes so very refreshing. I have rarely worked

with such positive, supportive and enthusiastic people. Some travelled from great distances and took time off work to participate in the event. Mine was held at the ExCel 2-4 December and was an exhilarating 3 days. My role was that of an AVR Camera Operator (instant replay technology) so being on the Field of Play so close to world class athletes was truly amazing. Hard not to be distracted by Team GB and the USA, my native country. It was hard to come down to earth after that!

Since the Test Event, I've been offered and accepted roles for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. During the Olympics I will be back at ExCel as a Timing and Scoring Team Member, behind the camera again. For the Paralympics I will be at the Olympic Park as a Technical Service Desk member.

I've been to initial Orientation Training at Wembley, which was a really motivational experience. I attended the very first training session held for volunteers, felt very special....along with the other thousands filling the arena! We were treated to Lord (Seb) Coe as main host with appearances by many British Olympians of the past, as well as the very entertaining Eddie Izzard!

From here I look forward to Role Specific and Venue Specific training for each assignment.....then....let the Games begin!

It's been a fantastic journey so far and am so glad I decided to put in that application. You hear people say it all the time, but this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and I know I will look back on the journey and experience in years to come with very fond memories.

Yvette Lethbridge

A Volunteer's Journey to London 2012

8

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