Day 5 (Our last shift): "what's happening over there?"

Me at our pod, Southbank

So from applying in December 2010 our last shift arrived all too soon.  What a great day to end on, though.  The last day of the Olympics meant people were out on the Southbank trying to soak up the very last drops of this amazing couple of weeks.  Plus it was super hot and sunny, as it has been every day of our London Ambassador shift (my fleece has remained firmly in its box).  To cap it all, as we looked across the Thames from our post outside the National Theatre, across to Victoria Embankment we could see the crowds lining the route of the Men's Marathon. The early questions today all concerned what route the marathon took and where the best viewing place was.  There was also quite a few people who stopped to ask "what's happening over there?"  ......and, of course, the usual "how far to Tower Bridge?"

I can't really put into words just how much I have loved my time as a London Ambassador.  I adore London and in particular the Southbank, and even more so now. The Olympics has been incredible in so many superlative ways and it was my pleasure to be a part if it.  What has really made it special was the public reaction.  So many  people came up to us just to say we were doing a great job or just to have a chat about how great the Olympics has been.    We've spoken to lots of people who hadn't got tickets but had just come to London to "be part of it".  Even before we got on the tube to head to our shift we had cyclists shouting "go volunteers!" and two lovely Australian women who had just arrived in the country that morning asked if they could take our photo.

The comments in the media have also been hugely positive about the work all the volunteers have done. For my part it was an absolute pleasure, and the special treats such as the opening ceremony rehearsal were just brilliant bonuses.  People were suggesting it would be great to have volunteers in tourist areas like the Southbank every summer. I think this a great idea and I'd definitely put my name down. However nothing will quite be the same as this magical summer.  But don't forget my brilliant fellow London ambassadors will remain around the city til the end of the Paralympics.  But, for my part, as I sit at home ready to watch the Closing Ceremony, with tears in my eyes at all the BBC montages, that is the end of my role in a Summer Like No Other.  And wasn't it just fab?

"One day we will tell our children and our grandchildren that when our time came, we did it right" -Seb Coe

“The doom-mongers said it couldn’t be done. Well they were wrong. It was done, it was stunning and it will live long in the memory.” -Boris Johnson

Shift 4 (Saturday): "how far to Tower Bridge?"

Tower Bridge copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

My most common question of my time so far has definitely been "how far to Tower Bridge?"  Or quite often London Bridge, but I'm pretty sure it's the usual tourist mistake and they really do want Tower Bridge.  Today I got asked this question several times and always try to guesstimate based on my assumption of their walking speed.  Consequently my answers have varied widely but generally from our post at the National Theatre I reckon about 30 minutes, Google Maps reckons around 40.  I like pointing people down that way though as there's so many things to see on the way.

It has been very busy and such a great atmosphere on the Southbank all week but as this was our first weekend day it was even busier and bustlier (if that's a word).  We were also treated to a great flashmob outside the National Theatre.

My favourite question(s) today was from a group of Spanish (I think) young people.  They got one of our maps and asked me what they should see in London.  Their enthusiasm to see everything important and giving me a chance to wax lyrical on how great London is was the vision I had when applying to be a London Ambassador.  Together we worked through the map as they circled everything they wanted to see.  Their conclusion in the end was to circle the whole map, "everything!" They were also thrilled that so many things were free, they were very happy when I told them the British Museum had no charge.  Isn't London brilliant?  I sent them away a happy bunch who were off to walk to Tower Bridge and catching Tate Modern and the Globe on the way.  Followed by the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery & portrait gallery, and Covent Garden.  Then over to Knightsbridge for the V&A, Science and Natural History museums.  Followed by an evening in Camden.  Or, thinking about it, they may have to spread it over a couple of days.....

Similarly we had a lovely American tourist who wanted to check with us he had seen all the main attractions in London.  After reeling off a list of everything in any decent guide to London we were struggling to think of somewhere he hadn't been.  He also wanted to see Scotland Yard as he said that's the image they often see on their TVs.  Of all the famous places in London.......

Can't believe tomorrow is our last shift, and the last day of the Olympics.  We will miss it way, way too much.

PS don't forget that you can't watch the closing ceremony at Hyde Park unless you have tickets (now sold out), it will be on at the large screens at Victoria Park though!  We've been given the advice that the best place to see it is at home with friends and family.  I might just do that....

Shift 3 (Friday): "is the Thames masculine or feminine?"

Lego map of the World.  Festival of the World @Royal Festival Hall

Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

Today we had a new location manager who was a bit more flexible in terms of not assigning us to a particular areas so we headed up to a nice shady bit by the National Theatre (it was hot again and those pink and purple tops don't exactly breathe).  This was actually a really nice area to be as the National Theatre has a series of outdoor performances so we were able to dance along to the music waving our Time Out magazines.

We were really put through our paces when a group of French kids came and asked for help with their questionnaire.  Having helped them with a couple of questions they turned their questionnaire over to reveal a whole page of unanswered questions about the Southbank and London.  I had to stifle a laugh when my sister mumbled despondently under her breath "oh, there's loads."  They were also properly difficult questions too, so I did exactly what I tell my students not to do....turn to Wikipedia.  Together we got there and sent them merrily on their way to have their photo taken outside Lambeth Palace (the last challenge on their questionnaire).  One we weren't quite sure on was "is the Thames considered in Britain as masculine or feminine?"  Literally no clue.  They said that it was feminine in French so we just went for that.....

Favourite question today #1: "Where can I buy flip-flops?"
Favourite question today #2 and possibly of all time, outside on the Southbank: "How do I get out?"

FAQ: Can I go to the Olympic Park without a ticket? (No, you need a ticket for the Park or an event taking place in the Park- tickets for events at other Olympic venues, e.g. Earl's Court, will not allow you into the Park).

After our shift we decided to walk to the BT London Live site at Hyde Park.  After a 5 hour shift on your feet in the sun, maybe the hours walk to Hyde Park was a mistake.  Nevertheless we got there, found a nice chilled out shady area near screen 5 and spent a very pleasant London evening sipping wine and then watching Feeder for free!  

Shift 2 (Thursday): where can I get a river boat?

Wenlock, near Charing Cross.  

Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

Day 2 was the first really hot day of our stint and everyone wanted a river cruise.   Working out which boats go from where, when- not so easy.  I think by the end of our shift we’d finally worked it out…just.  We spent this day roaming too, which we liked doing as it means you get to wander around the Southbank rather than staying in one place; the downside is ferrying huge packets of Time Out between the London Eye and the National Theatre, getting down to the furthest reaches only to find your colleagues at the other end had once again run out of Time Outs. 

Another popular question was about the Wenlock and Mandeville trail- statues of the mascots have been placed around London and you can walk different trails to find them, while taking in the main sights and sounds of this fine city.  A lady and her young daughter were trying to find some, and wanted to know their locations.  Unfortunately our maps only show the trails and not the exact locations of the statues, but I was able to point them in the direction of our nearest Southbank ones (up near County Hall).  I also had my picture taken with the little girl and I am obviously much better than both Wenlock and Mandeville.  Our pod also has a list of all the ones near our location and you can find various blogs of people that have walked the trails too giving more details of the statue locations.  Not everyone is a fan though- as we found out on our way home- as we stopped to take a picture of Wenlock one lady stopped to complain about the mascots and how they did not represent London.  Chances are people taking photos of it are not going to agree with you….

After our shift we continued to practise what we preach.  We headed down to Leicester Square to the TKTS booth to get some cheap theatre tickets.  Having plumped for Blood Brothers we then went for a drink sitting outside in a sun-bathed Leicester Square, followed by a meal in Chinatown and then hankies out for Blood Brothers.  Did I mention I love London?

Shift 1: done!

After registering in December 2010 my first shift was finally here.  And it was everything I could have possibly hoped,  Southbank was definitely the best choice location.  After debrief and meeting the rest of our lovely team we were let loose between the London Eye and the National Theatre.  It was a bit quiet to start with and I was a bit worried no-one would come and talk to us but after my first question (Where is Tate Britain?) the enquiries flowed.  It was our job to rove up and down the Southbank and replenish our fellow ambassadors' stocks of free maps and Time Out magazines. This was a great way to mingle amongst the question-laden public and to soak up the atmosphere, which, incidentally, was fantastic.  At the end of the shift in our debrief we were asked for common questions but actually there wasn't one common question, it was all very varied, from 'what's that building over there?' to 'is there a good family pub for food?' plus the ones we anticipated in training: 'where's the nearest toilet?' and 'can I have my photo taken with you?'.

Today's difficult question: "where's the nearest payphone?" (we guessed Waterloo station, but who uses payphones these days?!)
Today's best question: "Is there something going on on the river?  Why are all these people here?" (answer: 'no, this is just what the Southbank is like at its best, followed by me gushing about how great the Southbank is).
Today's loveliest people: (apart from our team) were probably the policemen also roaming up and down.  Particularly the ones that stopped to ask my sister if she thought she was wearing sensible shoes for the job and questioning the heel height.  Haha.
Today's less than lovely people: the people from a very famous cola brand who were transferring their guests from their hospitality area to a bus to take them to the handball.  They told us to move as they were trying to guide masses of people past where we were (a very open area near the National Theatre and 'masses' turned out to a few groups of no more than five people), and told us not to hand over Time Out magazines to their guests (who were asking for them) as it was slowing them up (even though they were still calling people from the hospitality room).  They were less than friendly and bordering on rude to lovely volunteers who were just trying to help members of the public.
Celebrity spots: Jim Rosenthal......some of our fellow ambassadors saw some of the American athletes.  I'll let you decide which is better.

After our shift we decided on a busman's holiday and explored the Southbank for ourselves.  So many amazing things going on- we watched the South African singers and dancers in "Ekhaya - South Africa's Olympic Home" at Queen Elizabeth Hall, salivated over the food at the Real Food Summer Market round the back of the Southbank centre, had a look round the Priceless London Wonderground, marvelled at the maze of books at aMAZEme, had our passport photo taken for our World Passport as part of the Festival of the World and had bubbles and sushi overlooking the bustling and sunny Southbank.

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.....

Timber Robots climbing up the side of the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre.  

Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram

Training to be a London Ambassador

Copyright @elmurphs on Instagram followgram.me/elmurphs/

Our training was split into three modules.  The first took place in March at the same place we had our recruitment event.  Although in retrospect if felt quite removed (the trainers worked for a charity unconnected to London Ambassadors and it was in a local centre) it was probably the module I enjoyed the most.  We had a table of lovely people and together we worked through the obligatory team exercises.  This time we had to come up with the types of people we were likely to meet (international tourists, domestic tourists and Londoners) and what their different needs would be, listing questions we thought they might ask.  Our team was once again quite competitive ("we finished first!"......"that's good, but that's not really the point").  Of course the question we assumed we will get asked the most is "where are the nearest toilets?"  We also had to decide what we'd do in various situations.  For our team the most distressing one we were given was if we encountered a lost child or a parent looking for a lost child.  One girl on our table was all but traumatized that this might happen on her shift.  We reassured her that we would come and visit her on her shift......pretending to have lost a child.  It was useful to think, in a relaxed environment and with a clear head, about what you might do in such situations so that in the throes of panic you might remember what you should do.  In this module we also saw what our uniform would look like for the first time.  To sum up our response: communal groan, but more on that later.


The second module was at Stratford.  Having been to the previous module of a small group of local people it was quite a shock to be faced with a massive room crammed with people.  The day involved more team exercises, some John Lewis customer service videos, and more role playing.  But I think this module really served to get us enthusiastic and hyped up about the Games.  Which it really did.  Videos of London winning the bid, a stirring speech from BoJo, seeing all the amazing cultural events happening and doing exercises to get us talking about London all did the trick......just throw in a bit of Heather Small's Proud and we were ready to burst with excitement.  I also stayed behind to take my WorldHost test and I now proudly have a Level 2 Award in Welcoming Tourists and Visitors to their destination.  I'm all about the qualifications, me.


Module three was a little bit disappointing.  After being so excited after module two it just felt like a bit of a let-down.  It was our "location training" so it took place at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank, along with some Southbank Centre volunteers who were also being trained.  Now, don't get me wrong, the stuff we were presented with was amazing....the Southbank is the place to be this summer (Stratford, who?), without a doubt.  So many different cultural events, installations, exhibitions.  It's just that when you've sat through a list of everything that happening, when's there's so much happening, it starts to wash over you a little bit.  Then we went outside to orient ourselves.  This was the bit I was looking forward to the most, but in the end it was a huge let-down.  I thought maybe we'd get some exciting treasure hunt to really get us moving up and down the Southbank hunting down the different places and getting a feel for the place.  Instead we had a list of questions (where can I find free drinking water, where are the toilets etc) which are perfectly valid but could be answered by looking in the guide book we had been given.  So unsurprisingly, in the baking heat, most people opted to stand in the shade and answer the questions straight from the book.  I think this was a bit of a missed opportunity.  We also didn't get much time to do it, when I think getting used to the Southbank is surely one of the most important elements?  We also had a less than enthusiastic team leader, sad to say, who spent most the time telling us to hurry up and complaining about the organisers ("it was much better than this on Tuesday" is not the sort of thing I want to hear.  Fingers crossed we don't get him.).  


At the end of all our training we congratulated ourselves by spending time on a beautiful May evening in a favourite place in London......the Southbank.  Dinner in Giraffe, a walk by the river and drinks at the Udderbelly's Magners Pasture.  Perfect.

A year of doing stuff....

"The year of doing stuff"

Last year my sister (for the purposes of this blog we will call her Francesca, because that is her name) and I decided to have what we, quite brilliantly called, "a year of doing stuff".  We wanted to make 2011 a year to remember....whether it be a 5k charity run, a balloon ride or applying to be London Ambassadors.  It was in this spirit we embarked on our London Ambassador journey, filled in our application forms and attended a recruitment event.

Francesca went to her recruitment event first.  Which was lucky as I hate facing the unknown.  And it meant, in the game where you had to place London attractions on a map, I could look smug as the only one in my team to know where the Imperial War Museum was (........having looked it up beforehand).  Of course the game wasn't really testing our knowledge of London attractions, more how we worked as a team.....but the element of competition was pretty strong.  We also had to role play and face the kind of people we might encounter during our shift.  There are definitely some frustrated actors amongst the London Ambassadors...
Our other challenge was to talk on a random topic for a minute, or maybe two...I can't remember, all I remember was gabbling away, having been given the topic of colour, about how an old flatmate of mine did not have a favourite colour and then in a panic just listing colours....fascinating for my team mates I'm sure.

The final part of recruitment was an informal interview.  Informal it really was; I had to stifle a laugh when my interviewer attempted to fit my brilliant pre-prepared speech about how I would be a perfect London Ambassador onto the two lines on her form.  "I'll just put helpful, friendly and passionate about London"...yeah that should about do it.

The on 28th September 2011 we were both offered the role of London Ambassadors on our first choice location (Southbank) in the last week of the Olympics.