“Harlow has never seen anything quite like this before.”

Hundreds of people gathered in Harlow Town centre for an emotional morning supporting the Royal Anglian Regiment, who were exercising their freedom to march through the town.

The supportive crowd gave the soldiers a warm welcome at 12:30pm, including primary and secondary schools with students waving the Union Jack proudly.

Despite the gloomy weather, the spirits of the crowd brightened up the whole ceremony. A sense of community and family was evident throughout, making it an enjoyable and memorable experience for all who took part..

Harlow College gave ten of their Public Services students the opportunity to steward the parade grounds. This gave them a great taste of experiencing the working environment of a public event.

Public Service student Molly Harrison, 16, said: “It's an exciting experience to work alongside police officers. My duties are to watch over the area, and make sure that the public know where they need to be. This experience will benefit my future aspirations to pursue a career in this sector”.

The recruitment team for the First Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment were present and we spoke to Sergeant Lake about the importance of the parade: “There was quite a big redundancy a few years ago, so we are trying to make people aware that we are still recruiting. The soldiers came back from Afghanistan a few months ago and have been given the freedom of the town. We are a local regiment so it is very important to spread the message”.

Paul Bird, Senior Tutor of Public Services at Harlow College works closely with the Harlow Council and any opportunities for his students to be stewards are welcomed. He said that the parade was a great experience for the students, especially as many of them aspire to be police officers or work in the Army. The parade was very moving, especially for Sue Coleman, whose son marched in front of the public. “It was an emotional experience… Our whole family is here. Harlow has never seen anything quite like this before”. 

By Charlotte Langham and Ceile Brown, Level 3 Journalism students

First Year Journalism Young Professionals Ceile Brown and Charlotte Langham Interviewing a Harlow College Public Services student

Ceile & Charlotte interviewing Sergeant Lake from the Royal Anglian Regiment