Secrecy was such that Jordan Duckitt, 18, one of the young people who lit the cauldron, said he went alone to the ceremony: “Some of the other seven had their mums and dads there but I had no one as my parents had jetted off on holiday and I couldn’t tell anyone about it. I just kept it to myself, as I didn’t want it leaked out anywhere. It went so quick, the noise from the crowd went straight through you. You could feel the emotion in the stadium and I couldn’t sleep after because of the adrenaline.”
The fact that almost 10,000 people kept the secret didn’t surprise Cottrell Boyce. “Those volunteers redefined the nation for me,” he said. “We’re told people need to be paid great sums to get results, but those who are motivated by money cock up. Because they’re crap. People who are motivated by things like love, family, friendship and humanity are the ones who have something to offer.”
ONE TUSK 