The Gamesmakers

Beryl from Bethnal Green stands in her usual place, at the top of the stairs at Stratford International Station. She’s dressed in the summer uniform of love, aubergine and tangerine. On her right hand, a pink foam finger, on her face, the widest of St Lucian smiles. She’s directing the people. To here and there, to Westfield Shopping Centre. She’s high fiving children, laughing the laugh of Olympia.

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When Beryl volunteered, she was just a newborn widow. Eddie, her husband had succumbed to cancer a month before. A friend suggested this, the vicar at her church in Bow. It might take her out of herself; do her good, he said. She did not even like sport; Eddie loved cricket, rum and cricket. Sometimes too much rum. Poor Eddie. Silly Eddie.

So she filled out the forms, went to the training, lots of training. She made friends. Gloria, David, Ahmet and Winnie. They became a team, went out to the theatre, the bingo. Beryl made them dinner sometimes, goat curry and jerk chicken. Never offered them rum to drink though. She didn’t take a drink.

On the day of the opening ceremony, she stood proud and confident. The crowds smiling and laughing with her. It was like the carnivals that she experienced as a child, it was like coming home. She had her photo taken with Sebastian Coe, she carries it everywhere, in her Olympic rucksack. Such a nice man.

And everyday she did this with her friends. People from all over the world. In wheelchairs and on crutches sometimes. Countries that she had never even heard of. She met a man from Jamaica and went out dancing with him in Canning Town. It was just fun and new company in the sunshine. She’ll be forever loyal to Eddie.

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When it ended on the day of the parade. She marched with her friends and the athletes through the streets of London. There were cheers and thanks, a kiss from Clare Balding. Another wonderful day, but the end of her days for a while.

She went home, sat on the settee, looked at the photo of Eddie and her on their wedding day. Something was missing and Beryl was confused. She bought a bottle of rum, tried it and then poured it down the sink. For two weeks she stayed indoors most of the time, occasionally going to the supermarket. The streets seemed sad and chill. The beautiful world gone. She had to change it again. Get it back.

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So Beryl from Bethnal Green stands in her usual place, at the top of the stairs at Stratford International Station, in aubergine and tangerine. The uniform of love for all seasons. It’s the 9th September 2013, one year exactly from that last day. She's been doing this for the last eleven months. She carried on. She is not alone; Gloria, David, Ahmet and Winnie join her regularly. They still go to the bingo; she sometimes still goes dancing with the man from Jamaica.

This is not just happening here, in Stratford, but also in Greenwich, Earlsfield, Hendon and Heathrow, every corner of the city. They make the people smile, they bring joy that has become addictive and will just not stop. They are the Gamesmakers.