The London 2012 Olympic Games have been hailed as a resounding success and most of us have our own special memories of the Games, whether it was cheering our team on in front of the TV, attending an event or both!

There were many others who participated in the event in a host of different ways such as the three local people featured here.

Gifford Wright from Caterham is the proud owner of the 1.5 litre Singer le Mans that won Olympic gold at the Berlin Games in 1936. During London 2012 the car took pride of place at the Savoy Hotel as part of the hotel’s Olympic celebrations.

Gifford said: “I wrote to Seb Coe to ask if he would like the car to feature at the Games but was very disappointed that he turned down my request. It seemed such a shame as the car is the only automotive winner of an Olympic gold medal and is an iconic piece of Olympic and British motoring history.”

In 1936 Elizabeth Haig took part in the 2,000-mile-cross- Europe Olympic Rally, the only Briton in 125 entrants. They were the first car to finish, beating the pride of the German automotive industry!

Phil Charrington has been playing a vital role in the athletics stadium during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. As a Games Maker, he has been part of a team making sure that all the athletics events ran smoothly. One of his main duties has been to help make sure the hurdles were all in place in time for the races.

Phil said: “It was great fun but I got a bit nervous sometimes. On the last Friday of the main Games I was putting up and taking down hurdles for the 100m mens semi-final, the 400m ladies final and then the 110m mens final which meant rushing from one side of the track to the other to make sure the hurdles were in the correct position for each race. It could have been disastrous if we made a mistake!”

Phil has a unique souvenir of the event, a damaged hurdle cross-bar that was given to him after one of the races.

Andy Parr has had a busy schedule throughout the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games as a volunteer ‘Location Manager’ at Gatwick Airport while also rehearsing for his role as a vicar in the Closing Ceremony!

Andy said: “It has been great fun working at Gatwick, there are so many great ambassadors I have been working with. We get so many positive comments from people from all over the world.”

Andy described the Closing Ceremony as one of the best experiences of his life.

“We had a practice in the afternoon then in the evening we could hear 80,000 people screaming: ‘Five, four, three, two, one!’ then we were on show in front of everyone in the stadium and millions watchng on TV! It was fantastic.

Closer to home Andy has been busy putting a display of Olympic Rings at the top of Church Hill in Caterham and on Monday 27th August he re-lit the beacon on Westway Common to celebrate the Paralympic Games.