FOR our November meeting we had a memorable and exciting talk from Lorraine Middleburgh, a physiotherapist at the 2012 London Olympics.

At the start of the meeting the minutes were agreed and members were reminded of outings including our Christmas lunch and a spring visit to Bletchley Park. There was also a report on the Three Counties AGM.

Our speaker Lorraine is a local physiotherapist originating from Hackney.

She applied to become a volunteer for the Olympics and was assigned to badminton which was not one of her specialities, so it was a steep learning curve.

Lorraine was based at Wembley starting at 5.30am, part of a team of six, responsible for the crowd and the players.

Her experience led her to work at the Aquatics Centre for the Paralympics. She changed her work to a first responder with many of her patients being treated for vertigo as the centre was so high!

Lorraine was invited to attend the athletes’ parade in the closing ceremony and visited Buckingham Palace.

She is now involved in Team London, the Mayor of London’s charity and has applied for the Commonwealth Games, also training as a badminton judge. She hopes to go to the next Olympic Games in Rio.

A vote of thanks was given by Lyndall Bagnall for an enjoyable evening bringing back the memory and magic of the games.

At our next meeting on Monday, January 20, Margaret Hyder will talk about choral speaking.