As the King’s Coronation was fast approaching, Girlguiding launched a ballot to recruit willing volunteers to help out at various locations around London on the day. Approximately 135 places were up for grabs for leaders from all corners of the country, with 50% of those places being allocated to the 18-30 age group (of which I do not fall…!)
A few weeks before the big event I received an email to say I had been selected to volunteer at Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the House of Lords. I was to be working alongside the Scouts and civil servants to greet the guests, help with tickets, support any guests that had mobility needs and generally point them in the right direction.
There were 21 leaders in total, split into three teams. We’d been instructed to arrive at our meeting point on Lambeth Bridge at 5.45am to have our briefing and to find out where we would be based, and to be given our Girlguiding Hi-vis jackets to wear! I was posted at the entrance to the gardens, before the guests went through to security.
The first guests started to arrive at 7.30am as they had to be seated in Westminster Abbey by 9am, with approximately 1500 people passing through the garden, it was going to take a while! My team leader said that there may be a few hold ups at my posting whilst the guests located their tickets, so I should be prepared to “jolly” them along and reassure them it wouldn’t take much longer. I did suggest breaking out into some campfire singing if they started to get bored, alas, the system worked so efficiently and with people arriving in dribs and drabs, my singing was not required!
I’d heard rumours from the civil servants I was working with that Stephen Fry had been spotted at the main entrance on the bridge, but it wasn’t until Dame Maggie Smith, herself, walked past me that I realised the calibre of guests that I would be greeting. So, for the next hour and a half I said “Good morning” and “have a wonderful time/enjoy your day” to a plethora of famous faces, including: Dame Judi Dench, Dame Emma Thompson, Katy Perry, Ant & Dec, Lionel Ritchie, Joanna Lumley and Kelly Jones from The Stereophonics. It was also lovely to greet members of Girlguiding that had been included in the guest list too. The atmosphere was great, you could tell that the guests were excited to be at such an historic occasion, I received many “thank yous” from them, it was nice to be appreciated!
After everyone was through security, we were able to relax for a while in the marquee, where we could watch the ceremony on TV.
Once the ceremony had ended, my team were posted near the Abbey door to direct the guests back to Lambeth Bridge, and offer out ponchos, as in typical British weather fashion, the rain had started (Dame Maggie Smith politely declined my offer). From my position I was able to get a glimpse of the golden carriage carrying the HM King and Queen as it left the Abbey and the procession that followed it.
With the Abbey now void of guests we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, I stopped along Lambeth Bridge just in time to see the Red Arrows fly past, a spectacular end to an extraordinary day. I feel so lucky and grateful to have been given the opportunity to represent Girlguiding at such a prestigious occasion.
As a thank you from our team leader, I was given tickets to the Coronation Concert at Windsor for the following day. It was a wonderful evening and a great way to round off the Coronation weekend. But thank goodness for the bank holiday Monday, I was wiped out!
Kelly
Girlguiding Somerset county 