Flagship’s chief “bunting-taking-down-ers” tackle QVC’s Sport in the Park

Last Friday, Sarah Catterick and I found ourselves down at the Millennium Stadium in Battersea Park in the late afternoon sun. Were we training for London 2012, I hear you ask? Sadly not – unless taking-down bunting becomes an Olympic event by next summer, Sarah and I are definitely out of the running.

Instead, we were volunteering our time to clean up QVC’s Sport in the Park, run by local charity, Battersea Summer Scheme. With recent events hitting the headlines daily, there isn’t a more appropriate moment to acknowledge the success of the week-long event, which encourages local young people to take part in creative, challenging and sporting activities. Kids keep fit and active, rather than loitering around with little to do, which can inevitably lead to getting into trouble.

We arrived on scene as the activities and sports were still going strong, and the area was buzzing with painted faces and excitable kids, all thanks to fantastic organisation by the Battersea Summer Scheme team who made it all happen. I was practically itching to join in and get up on the high-ropes course, which was proving one of the most popular attractions with both kids and parents armed with camera phones.

Self-dubbed the “stealers-of-fun”, Sarah and I began our subtle attempt to tidy away bunting and fill litter bags without interrupting the last half-hour of the kids’ enjoyment. The sun was still shining away and we really didn’t want to detract from what had clearly been a great day.

With the equipment all packed away, stands taken down and the fastest dismantling of a climbing wall I have ever seen (albeit the only one…) it was a job well done and I have a feeling I might just be back to help out again next year…