Saturday 14th September 2024
Dear Volunteer,
Thanks for taking part in our Last Night of the BBC Proms 2024 EU flags giveaway. This will be the 6th year we are doing this. It is important to support the musicians who are so badly affected by Brexit, and to highlight how freedom of movement is so important.
Prommers arrive at the hall early to get the best spot in the queue. Also, they have picnics on the steps. In previous years, prommers have started queueing from 3:00 PM. The BBC does not let us give out flags on the Royal Albert Hall property itself, so we need to catch people before they go onto their land. If somebody is in the queue already, we might not be able to get a flag to them. So we need to be there before them. Due to this, we ideally want some volunteers to be at the hall from 3:00 PM. If you are not able to stay for the full time, then coming later is more important, we need all volunteers there to help from 1630 to 1900 as this is the busiest time.
We expect the doors to the hall to open at 5:30 PM, and once people are inside, we can’t hand a flag to them anymore.
When you arrive, please meet us at the bottom of the Royal Albert Hall steps on Prince Consort Road. Look out for our friendly team members wearing “Thank EU For the Music” t-shirts – they’ll be there to guide you.
We encourage everyone to wear the t-shirt, as it helps us create a unified presence and looks fantastic in photos! If you have a t-shirt or bEUret from a previous year, please bring them with you.
Don’t worry if you don’t have one – t-shirts will be available to borrow or purchase for £20. Your contribution will help us buy more flags for next year’s event and other pro-EU initiatives. We mostly have larger sizes and they go over what ever you are wearing.
You will be given a branded tote bag and inside you will find: hand flags, you will also find some larger 3*5 flags. The 3*5 flags are for people who have seats in the Grand Tier or Second Tier boxes only. These seats have places to drape large flags. The big flags are expensive and we need to make sure if we give them away they will end up on show in the hall prominently.
In previous years we had some issues with UK flag sellers. You have just as much right to be there as they do so please do not be intimidated by them.
If you encounter a hostile person, please do not engage, walk away, they are not worth it. We do not want to be associated with any trouble outside the hall. We have built a good relationship with the Albert Hall over the years and do not want to tarnish this. The proms is a joyful occasion and not a place for arguments. We are there to support musicians and celebrate the EU.
The Albert Hall has 12 doors all the way round and people can attend from any side. We must cover every possible approach so nobody misses the opportunity to pick up a flag.
If there are too many people in one place then please spread out. Keep an eye on the WhatsApp chat as there may be calls for volunteers at other locations.
There will be a need later on for flag runners to restock people’s bags.
If you happen to have a ticket for the last night and are planning to go inside then please do let us know.
We suggest always working in pairs.
Kind regards,
#ThankEuForTheMusic
Volunteer Sign Up (If you are not in the Whatsapp Group yet)
We are now very close to the even and it might be that we won’t be able to add you. Please just turn up and we will instruct you.
Please sign up here if you have not done so already so that we know how many volunteers we have and also keep in contact:
If you give us your phone number we will add you to a whatsapp group for updates and chat on the day.