Last night the clocks in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham were turned back 100 years as the council celebrated success in Beijing and aspirations for the 2012 Games by commemorating the White City Games in 1908, the first time London hosted the Modern Olympic Games.

After canapes inspired by the dishes served at the opening banquet of the 1908 Games, guests were treated to a display of fencing; the chance to mingle with some of Team GB's Beijing medallists including James DeGale; the return of competative Tug of War to the borough; and a man dressed as a polo player riding a scooter dressed as a horse.

The last of these was also commemorating the return of polo to the borough reported in the papers earlier this week and formally marked last night.

As usual I had the London 2012 information stall with me and was able to have detailed discussions with lots of the guests about the opportunities the Games presents to them and also the local nature of the Games. For example, I spoke with some residents of the Earls Court area who were excited to learn that the Volleyball competition in 2012 would take place just around the corner from their home; they were so excited they began discussing whether to postpone their plans to move!

A highlight for me was the chance to renew my acquaintance with Matt Wells, bronze medallist in Beijing. Matt used to train at a boathouse that I ran as part of my last job, so it was nice to catch up with him and offer my own congratulations. Of course the presence of a star athlete helped trade at the stall, so we couldn't chat for too long, but he did share reminiscences of the last three Games with my colleague Richard (the Chair of the London 2012 forum) for the benefit of a couple of visitors to the stall.

As the evening drew to a close Richard was invited to say a few words to round off the event and inspired the audience about the role that every Londoner can play in the Games, not just in sport or as a spectator or supporter but also in the Cultural Olympiad or through business, education, employment and skills training opportunities that will benefit them individually also.

At the end of the evening Cllr Lillis, the lead Council member for the Games, introduced me to Cllr Greenhalgh the leader of the Council. It seems the Council is now, perhaps more than ever before, committed to getting the most out of the Games for local residents, I hope that last night went some way to helping the residents becoming excited enough to take up those opportunities and achieve some tangible local impact from the Games in West London.