Lunchtime Concert at the Met Office

In the middle of the Easter Holiday, ECO paid its first visit to the Met Office in Exeter for a combined concert/publicity/fundraising occasion. We were very excited and pleased to be asked to perform at this amazing new venue. 1,500 people work at the Met Office, and we were hoping to find some new players from the families who have relocated to Exeter. Additionally we were hoping to generate some interest from potential sponsors. It was also a fantastic opportunity to visit the new building with its futuristic design.

We soon discovered that the Met Office has very strict security arrangements! This was to prove especially challenging for us as we were told that we could only bring a total of 50 people into the building. The list of names would have to be supplied in advance, and we would have to submit to stringent controls and checks on entry and exit. This meant that many revised plans had to be drawn up as it became clear that this was going to be no ordinary ECO outing!

The final arrangements resembled plans for a military-style operation!

0900 hours: Check ECO Uniform.

0915 hours: Check and pack instrument. . . . . . . !

Well, perhaps not quite like that, but we became very conscious of the need for detail.

The vehicles transporting the large instruments were the first to arrive on site, and passed through the barrier using the pre-arranged code word "ECO"! They then proceeded to the next security check which involved close inspection by an official of the underside of each vehicle using a device designed to detect explosives – a mirror on a stick! This inspection sent a shiver of apprehension through the drivers of the vehicles, as they wondered what might be detected; fortunately mud and rust were the only substances observed and they passed through to the next checkpoint where the instruments were unloaded and admitted to the building via a security-code protected side door.

Meanwhile the players had begun to arrive. When everyone was assembled, we processed into the building where we were all given special badges identifying us as "Visitors to the Met. Office", and we squeezed into the waiting room set aside for us. This was a bit of a squash and everyone had to tread delicately to avoid stepping on some of the smaller players!

By 12.30pm everything was set up and we were ready to begin. Watches were synchronised, Richard raised his baton, and the music started. A crowd began to gather as the performance got underway, and soon there was an enthusiastic audience of 'weathermen and weatherwomen' clapping and cheering us on! The music sounded super, and groups of people stopped on their way to and from lunch to listen to us. Committee members seized the opportunity to rattle the collecting tins and hand out leaflets among the crowd who were viewing the performance from the many vantage points around the atrium.

Looking up to the arrangement of staircases and elevated walkways, reminiscent of Harry Potter's Hogwarts, we noticed many more people listening to the music. Even the ladies on 'Reception' temporarily let their guard slip as the Orchestra played Hang on Sloopy and Rock around the Clock, and they were observed dancing in front of the 'Black Alert Status' notice, and clapping to the music!

All too soon it was 13.10 precisely, and, glancing briefly at his watch, Richard lowered his baton, invited the players to take a bow, and it was all over. The audience drifted away to carry on the mysterious science of weather-forecasting and we packed everything up ready to be released through the security barriers into the real world outside. Later that day it was revealed that the Concert had been tremendously popular with the employees at the Met. Office. We were given an instant invitation to pay a return visit, and enquiries were made by a number of parents of potential new players. The best aspect of the day for the adults was that the ECO children played so professionally and behaved so responsibly that it was a delight and a privilege to accompany them.