London, thou art the flower of cities all -
and this written by a Scotsmam, Willam Dunbar (15th centrury)

• Blue Suede Shoes - Rock & Roll London
• Votes for Women - the Blue stocking revolt
• Exotic Seasoning - the Foodies' Soho walk
• Blue Blood - eccentric Mitford family in Mayfair
• Little Boy Blue - singing nursery rhymes in the streets of the old City
• Blue Collar - Exploring the Docklands area

Look at the full list to see what a wonderful programme we laid on to show case our city and our expertise!

Do-It -Yourself routes
Blue Badge guides were on duty at five strategic points on each of the two DIY self guided pedestrian-friendly routes close to the River Thames. Guides were on hand to point out and explain places of interest; from Watergates to Somerset Palace, bridges, gardens, alley-ways, historic palaces and pubs. Blue Badge guides speak over 40 different languages, so many non English speaking visitors were able to join in.

We are very grateful to Transport For London who provided generous funding to help us promote the day as part of the Mayor’s Strategic Walking Strategy which aims to make London one of the most walking-friendly cities by 2015 - see www.tfl.gov.uk/streets/walking/home. There are six routes as part of the Strategic Walks Network, and the DIY walks touched on two of them; Jubilee Walkway and Thames Path. This enabled us to produce some very smart maps and provide stickers, free pencils and balloons (blue of course) to advertise the events.

The Japanese Guides Association
offered a range of well publicised and attended events.

Charitable Events
There were numerous special charitable events, including:

• Volunteers from a Marie Curie cancer hospice (Eden Hall) had a coach trip to the Docklands
  
• Yeoman Warder “Beefeaters” from the Tower of London headed off to Canterbury
  
• Westminster Abbey staff had a trip to Winchester
  
• Residents and volunteers from the British Home & Hospital for the Incurables enjoyed a panoramic coach tour of the Docklands and East End
  

Support from Coach Companies
These events would not have been possible without the generous support of the following coach companies in providing free or subsidized transport and the free admissions offered by places involved: Armchair Coaches, Epsom Coaches, Evan Evans/Redwing, Tellings Golden Miller, Westbus and Cavalier Coaches.

Publicity
This year saw continued growth in press coverage and increasing use of websites and emails. The event was featured several times on TV London (Sky channel) on both Friday and Saturday. Information was also given various publications including Time Out, Metro Newspaper, The Independent and many local websites and newsletters. There were about 100 e-mail inquiries – we were able to deal with these quickly and effectively by referring people to our website.

Did you miss the day?
If you are disappointed at missing this wonderful day, don't forget you can book a Blue Badge Guide through our website 365 days of the year!

Thank you for your hard work
A big thank you to the hard working organising team – Tony Anderson, Simon Good, Adrienne Oddey, Fiona Attrell, Trevor Phillips, Simon Rodway, Ali Bennett, Hazel Docherty, David Thompson and Carol Hadley and Mehmet Ahmet in the Guild office for their never ending patience and assistance - and all the volunteer guides who are listed below. We hope everyone who took part enjoyed the day as much as we did. We tried to show that Blue Badge Guides add an extra dimension to a visit to London.

Eileen Cox
Organiser ITGD

Credits
Guided Walks and tours
Tony Anderson, John Ashton, Jon Blanchard Eileen Cox, Kim Dewdney, Clarissa Fell, Sue Gil, Rosemary Honey, Marielies Jackson, Sue Jackson, Brian Jenkins, Rachel Kolsky, Abigail Lawson, Simone Mathews, Nick Morrison, Trudie Nielsen- Kerr, Glen Portch, Liz du Parcq, Trevor Phillips, Guy Pickford, Rose Pockney, Simon Rodway, Sean Simpson, Susan Sworn, David Thompson

Charity and special events
Freda Bates, Milva Baldwin, Ros Hutchinson, Guy Pickford, Valerie Richman, Suzanne Whitting

DIY Walks
Ali Johnston, Anny Price, Barry Bennett, Brian Leary, Bryan Gorin, Daniella Kochavi, Eve Milner, Frances Carroll, Hilda Matthews, Hiroko Miller, Hugh Burn, Hugh Dickson, Jacky Taylor, Jane Majoubian, Joslin Lewis, Karen Pierce-Golding, Liza Spencer, Margaret Machin, Martin Olutniks, Nick Morrison, Nicky Watts, Pamela McHutchon, Ros Stanwell-Smith, Rosemary Lightbody, Ross Knox-Holmes, Sarah Fordham, Setsu Sato, Steph Tickner, Susan Sworn, Suzanne O'Kelly, Tim Hudson, Trevor Phillips, Trudi Pincombe.