In the Autumn of 2007 a plan was hatched to send a symbol of London, a red double decker bus, overland to Beijing to be part of the handover ceremony from the Beijing Games to the London Games of 2012.
This expedition was going to be lead by Mac Mackenney with whom SJH Projects had worked during the Xtreme Everest project. The bus itself was to be driven by full time London Bus drivers and the selection process was open to all. A support vehicle from the overland adventure company, Dragoman would be with the bus throughout.
After sifting the 1000+ applications down to 30 candidates, a selection weekend would be held. From this would be chosen the final team and reserves. SJH Projects was brought in to plan the selection phase and recommended TOR International as the formal provider. SJH Projects and the team at TOR produced a challenging and informative programme.
In April 2008 the candidates were put through a wide range of scenarios to see how the operated individually and as a part of a team. Events went through the day and night including navigation, first aid and the dealing with checkpoint guards with a bad attitude and AK47s.
The successful candidates went forward to a formal training phase, also delivered by TOR International. TOR are a renowned supplier of ‘hostile environment training’ to the media and industry and their staff were able to impart a huge amount of information useful to anyone considering travelling or working in a remote environment.
The project had the support of Ken Livingstone and Transport for London. With the change of London Mayor however, there was a change of policy and during the formal training period word came that the trip maybe cancelled. A period of uncertaintly followed, exacerbated by the implications of the earthquake in China, before the project was formally cancelled on the 21st May.
It is a shame that the team didn’t get to undertake the challenge for which they had prepared, as each and everyone of them would have made a fine ambassador for London as an Olympic host city.
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