As the Olympic Torch moves into the last few weeks of its journey across the nation, the British public have been whipped up into an Olympic frenzy and are ready for the Games to begin.
Here at Democracy we’ve been lucky enough to see the Olympic Torch twice. Firstly it visited Knowsley Safari Park, where torch bearer Jane Campbell stopped for a very special photocall with the elephants and giraffes and then it came to The Rock, Bury where it was carried by inspirational schoolboy Mohammed Khan.
On both days, the respective communities basked in glorious sunshine, and their pride in the local area, and the torch bearers representing it, was palpable.
Yes, the Torch Relay is a commercial enterprise; the bearers are preceded by a cavalcade of vehicles representing the Olympic Partners, and believe me, the Coca Cola girls in Bury saying hello to the wrong town was a low point, but it also provides a day that the community will never forget and a fantastic carnival atmosphere that you’d go a long way to beat.
And as for us at Democracy, each event involved a lot of hard work (and mountains of media accreditations) but it was an opportunity to say thank you to the communities that support our brilliant clients, and, to repeat a phrase that I might have heard said more than once, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.