Athletes celebration parade

So we celebrated, celebrated, celebrated, and what a day long celebration is was!

With a mixture of sadness and excitement I made my way to London Town via Nottingham in my uniform for the very last time.  I could sense the same excitement building up again that I had experienced during Games time! 

I arrived into London Town for 11.00am and headed straight to The Mall.  It was great to see some many Games Makers around, making their way to The Mall.  I hooked up with a group of random Games Makers and we all headed off together.  Feeling proud and over the moon at being in the capital again!  Once we arrived outside the designated entrance we queued patiently.



Doing what we do best......

As the gates opened we made our way to The Mall, what a vantage point I got, right at the front baby!  Our section soon became full of the Games Maker family and it was fantastic.  We all stood around exchanging stories about the Games, we we've been doing since finishing our shifts, got involved in a Mexican wave (a few times) and asked the Police to take some pics.  They where more than obliging and loved joining in on the fun.  It was once again an Olympic carnival atmosphere!  We could all feel the excitement building up, waiting for the final chapter in our Olympic journey to begin.

Spot the Games Maker lol!

Then the parade began.  Float after float after float of athletes, showing off their medals, we clapped, we cheered, and some cried as the parade made it's was down The Mall.  What an amazing spectacle it was.  It was a fantastic opportunity to get up and close and thank the athletes for an absolutely amazing Summer of games.  They all beamed with pride, showing off their medals and waving and clapping as they went by!  Each and everyone of the athletes acknowledged us Games Makers and thanked us all for our work during the Games.  It was an incredible feeling, especially as the majority of floats carried thank you messages for the Games Makers!  The whole Mall exploded as the parade moved along.

I made it happen!

As the parade ended it was time for several thank you speeches and a special fly pass by The Red Arrows.  What a fitting tribute to an awesome day of celebrations!


Awesome display!

As the parade ended we made our way to a rendezvous point where a group of Games Makers where going to meet for a bite to eat, before we all departed for the last time on our final journeys home!  As we made our way out of The Mall we spotted some of the Team GB athletes coming out of The Mall and managed to stop by the roadside to take some more pics.  Lucky we did, as quite a few athletes followed, all walking back down the side of The Mall.  Managed to take advantage of the situation and took some great shots of the athletes and their medals!

Go Team GB!

As we made our way to our final meeting place the restaurant was full of Games Makers.  The atmosphere was amazing, Games Makers all over the place!  It was great to meet up with volunteers who I'd not seen since the Olympics and I even met some for the first time at our last meeting, ironic!

I didn't stay for long, as I had to make my way back to train station for my train home.  I made my way around and chatted briefly to as many Games Makers as possible, stopped for the occasional pic.  Soon it was time to leave and say my final goodbyes.  It was a sad time, the last time we'd all be together, in our Uniforms, in London Town, amongst such great friends and in such a wonderful atmosphere :(

Some of the Aquatics Games Makers!

A great team, great friends, a fantastic day and then we departed our separate ways to head home. 

On my final leg home waiting for the East Midlands Mainline train to Nottingham, 6 other Games Makers caught the same train home as me.  I was not alone, a nice way to end an amazing day!

A selection of images from the day can be seen here.