Running For Enjoyment: Duchess of Cambridge

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Awards given to the London 2012 Games Makers 2012/2013

To my surprise over this past year since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games all 70,000 of the official London 2012 Games Makers have won 4 National Awards. As 1 of the official 70,000 Games Makers it makes me a co-recipient of these awards. I definitely didnt expect to receive a national award and i’m sure many of my fellow Games Makers didnt either. Thanks to all those institutions who gave us the awards.

They are (in order):

Communicators of the Year 2012

This was awarded to the Games Makers by the Institute of Internal Communication at a ceremony in London on November 21st 2012

Big Society Award 2012

The Big Society Award 2012 was presented to all the London 2012 Games Makers on November 28th 2012 by Prime Minister David Cameron.

2nd link to the Big Society Award 2012

Queens Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012

On December 12th 2012 all the Games Makers were awarded with the Queens Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012

Nomination for Team of the Year at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards 2012

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2012 Live Coverage (as it happened) by the Guardian – 500 lucky Games Makers were in the audience who had been in a ballot conducted by LOCOG. The Team of the Year award was eventually won by Team GB and ParalympicsGB.

Games Makers in the audience were not only mentioned in the commentary but by athletes. When Lord Coe was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Duchess of Cambridge he also thanked the Games Makers.

Outstanding Contribution to Tourism 2013 (May 2013)

The Oustanding Contribution to Tourism award was given to all the Games Makers at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2013. Follow the links below for more info:

Some of the places this award was referenced: Lincolnshire Sports Partnership, Daily Mirror, Travelbite

Sunday, November 10, 2013

When the Duchess Met the Games Maker (me) – Part 1

On 5th March 2013 Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, came to my town. Having been a fan of admirer of all the young royals including Kate, I decided I wanted to go and see her. The nearest place to me she was visiting was the National Fishing Heritage Centre. The day before she came I decided I would go and see her in my Games Maker uniform as she had been at London 2012 and been a great supporter of the event.

Expecting a large crowd it seemed a good idea to get there as early as possible so got myself to the National Fishing Heritage Centre for 7.30am and was the 2nd person there. Next thing I know I am being interviewed by local news ‘Look North’ less than an hour later. Whilst waiting a photo of myself and the crowd is posted on the Viking FM twitter

Due to freezing fog the Duchess was delayed by at least an hour. It was really cold for me in my Games Maker uniform which was designed for Summer, not freezing fog. Was so glad when she finally arrived. After waving to the crowds, talking to the dignitaries and taking a tour of the centre, Kate decided to greet the crowds. All the time I had planned to come see the Duchess I had hoped I might get a chance to talk to her. The closer she came my heart began beating a lot quicker. As she came along I took quite a few photos of the event. Closer and Closer she came and then…the Duchess saw me and spoke to me!

The first thing the Duchess of Cambridge said to me was “I recognise that uniform” referring to my Games Maker uniform then she asked what I had done at the Olympics. We also talked about the Olympics in general, the sports she liked as I remembered she liked Hockey. It was quite a long chat and I made her laugh at one point. I really enjoyed the chat. Not only did she look fantastic but she was easy to talk to and down to earth. After that she spoke to more of the crowd and left. Shortly after she left I was interviewed for ‘Calendar’ and a few other journalists including many from the national papers. I was also interviewed by a journalist from Lincs FM/Compass FM who got some quotes from myself and the first person there.

To my complete surprise, due to a tip off from a friend, I later discovered a photo of myself talking to the Duchess of Cambridge in most of the national newspapers. A fantastic photo. This one below:

Even more surprising is how widespread this photo was published. In addition to which my local paper The Grimsby Telegraph had photos of me in it for 4 days consecutively as well. Here are some of the sites I have found to date with that photo to be published with links. Will add more when i find them: