Thousands of volunteers and charity staff are helping those queueing to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall as her coffin lies in state.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is leading on the arrangements, and is being assisted by volunteers and staff from a number of charities.
According to the government tracker, the queue was approximately 3.1 miles long this morning, with infrastructure in place along the route to allow for a peak length of up to 10 miles.
Volunteers from the Scouts, Samaritans, British Red Cross, First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and the Salvation Army are supporting those in the queue throughout the lying in state period, according to DCMS. This began yesterday and will continue until the morning of the state funeral on 19 September.
Up to 2,000 of St John Ambulance’s volunteers and employees will be on hand throughout the period, with an expected 600 St John Ambulance volunteers on the busiest day.
The charity will have 30 bases, from pop-up treatment centres to purpose-built temporary field hospital facilities in Hyde Park, St James’s Park and by Lancaster House.
Some 180 volunteers from Samaritans will be on hand to provide emotional support to people queuing to pay their respects as will around 140 from the British Red Cross.
More than a hundred Scouts aged between 18 and 25 from across the UK will also join volunteers.
Sarah Vibert, chief executive of NCVO, said: “Given The Queen’s very close ties with so many charities and voluntary organisations throughout her life, it is only right that volunteers are involved in paying our respects as a nation.
“We send our best wishes to all our members, charities, and volunteers involved in civic events across the country, and in other official acts of tribute.”
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