Jenny Rowlands in the council chamber last night (Monday)

CAMDEN Council chief executive Jenny Rowlands made a rare contribution to last night’s all-member Town Hall meeting as she explained how volunteers were ready to welcome people arriving in central London for the Queen’s funeral.

She was speaking as Camden Council held a special all-member meeting last night (Monday) in which councillors, aldermen, members of the public and Town Hall staff paid tribute to the Queen.

Here is what Ms Rowlands said

“I’m so grateful to the mayor for allowing me to speak on behalf of my colleagues at Camden Council and I know it’s very unusual to speak at this part of the full council.

But on Thursday evening, as soon as we heard the news, staff contacted me and asked how could we join our voices in remembering and reflecting and mourning our queen as part of Camden’s community.

So I asked if we could have this exceptional time to reflect on Her Majesty’s life with you all. I’ve been contacted by staff feeling a deep sense of grief about the loss of the Queen, wanting to share what it meant for them and for their families and as many people said how that then makes them remember other losses that they have had recently.

People have talked about her being a role model for selfless public service and what it meant to their communities having her as a faith leader, as well as a woman who lead with quiet power and dignity.

And with a staff of over 4,000 individuals, we’ve heard lots of different stories and lots of different experiences. I wanted to say that many of the staff since the announcement have been working hard to make sure that we support our colleagues across London, as well as here in Camden in the commemoration and accession events.

And we’re preparing to welcome many people through our borough in the next week who will come to London to mourn, and to be part of saying goodbye to Her Majesty, the Queen. We’ve got volunteers, as well as people doing their day jobs, all coming to make sure that those travelling through Camden will feel welcomed, safe and supported.

But really, I think people want to do it as part of their public service to recognise her public service. And for us, we see this, as many of you have said, as a moment of public grieving. Something which perhaps we’re not always very good at doing, but something we want to do properly with our community.

o thank you so much for letting us join you today to pay our respects to the Queen, and to acknowledge her life of service and her role in shaping our community and our country.”