FOR most of us the Jubilee will be an occasion to celebrate, but for Harriet Roberts it marks the start of a 50-day marathon which will see her travel the length and breadth of the country -- and she can't wait.

John Anson spoke to her...

AS a former head girl at Ribblesdale High School in Clitheroe, it seems that Harriet Roberts was born to organise -- and the Jubilee will give her the chance to put all her skills to the test.

She has been given the daunting task of making sure that the Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay will be seen and heard by millions on each of the 50 days when the baton makes its journey around the UK.

But 33-year-old Harriet takes it all in her stride, leaning on the years of event-organising experience which started out when as a child she put on shows in her dad's wooden garage in the Ribble Valley.

As a 17-year-old, she organised a young people's theatre group and took it on the road, playing to audiences in Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley, Nelson and Clitheroe.

Her parents encouraged her, with her mother observing: "I think she came out of the womb with a clipboard, a pen and a stopwatch in her hand!"

When Harriet left school, she joined the BBC as a trainee production assistant. She was soon involved in putting on exhibitions at the Royal Lancashire Show and an annual Carol Concert at Blackpool Tower, which attracted more than 2,000 people. Children In Need events followed, before she earned her spurs with a huge outdoor religious pageant, Light Of The Nations, which she was instrumental in organising, much to the delight of more than 3,000 people at Hoghton Tower.

As Harriet says: "The budget for the one-day event was £14,000 and I worked for 12 months in my spare time mobilising a cast and production team from schools and churches in Lancashire.

"It was the biggest thing I'd done . . . and on the night itself a motorbike despatch rider arrived with a message of support from the Pope in Rome."

After that it was helping out with BBC Music Live; broadcasting annual stage shows from the Lancaster Bonfire and Fireworks Display on Castle Hill, with 5,000 people attending; a 999 Exhibition at Blackburn and a history exhibition, complete with five Queen Victoria lookalikes.

Now it's the challenge of the Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay, with Harriet covering 5,000 miles and co-ordinating coverage of the baton's progress in the hands of 5,000 runners -- from local heroes to major celebrities.

Harriet, who works for the BBC in Manchester and currently lives in Chorley, has had to liaise with 50 separate local authorities to work out a detailed schedule, making sure the daily events to celebrate the baton's safe arrival both go ahead, are well organised . . . and are bang on time to be captured on camera.

When the baton lands back in Britain on Thursday after a tour of the Commonwealth, Harriet will set off on a 5,000 mile trek accompanying the baton, which end its journey in Manchester on July 25 when it will be presented to the Queen at the opening of the Commonwealth Games.

Harriet said: "It's quite a daunting task really. It certainly was when we started out with just a blank sheet of paper, with 50 venues to fill, with 50 councils to get on board and with TV and radio crews to organise and liaise with.

"However, we're working with the team from the Sydney Olympics and they are experts, having worked on the logistics of the Olympic Torch.

"But anything to do with large audiences and organising TV and radio coverage -- well, that's a Harriet job. I really do like putting on a bit of a show."

She added: "We've got as much in place as its possible to do but we all know it won't be plain sailing, though in a way, that's the exciting element.

Each day for the 50-day tour, Harriet has to make sure that the filmed and taped material is available for transmission right round the world to any of the 72 countries taking part in the Games.

Harriet's headache is that the baton has to arrive on its final leg of the day at 6.55pm precisely -- to make the final item on the relevant BBC regional evening news programmes, just before the hand-back to the BBC Six O'Clock newsreader in London.

Harriet added: "We've got as much in place as it's possible to do but we all know it won't be plain sailing, though in a way that's the exciting element. Anything done live gives that ingredient of unpredictability and people appreciate that.

"The trick is keeping everybody happy. Each night's party event -- at the end of the baton's journey that day -- has to work as a live event for everyone there but also for TV and radio as well. It has to finish bang on time and that's the hardest thing -- that's my main worry."

And once the marathon's over, what does she plan to do?

Harriet said: "I think I'll need a summer holiday."