Volunteering for London 2012 was much more than the 12 nights I was in London....
Wednesday 15th September 2010: Application submitted to be a London 2012 Gamesmaker!
"Congratulations on successfully completing your application to
become a London 2012 Games Maker!"
I applied for any venue based on the Olympic Park, even though football was based only 15 mins down the road from home at St. James Park, I really wanted to be down 'in the thick of it' in London! If I was going to be involved, I wanted to be properly involved......Following this...the wait began!
Thursday 13th January 2011: Applied to be a SEV... Selection event volunteer!
Through the Sports Volunteer Programme at Newcastle University I was forwarded an email to apply to be a Selection Event Volunteer when LOCOG came to Gateshead. The role involved interviewing potential Gamesmakers! I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to get involved before games time! With many things, I think what's the worst that can happen? They can only say no!
Wednesday 9th March 2011: Invited for a SEV interview!
"Thank you for
applying to join the Selection Event Programme. I am pleased to confirm that
after reviewing your application we would like to invite you to an interview
for the role of selection event volunteer (SEV) in the North East."
Woooooop!!! Being accepted for this, gave me the first real excitement that London 2012 was actually happening and I could be a part of it!!
Thursday 31st March 2011: SEV Interview time!
Off I went in my little car to One Northeast for the SEV interview! I was fully suited up in my PhD interview suit and passion for the Olympics, not really knowing what to expect!
Thankfully I didn't get lost and arrived early! Sitting in reception with a few other potential SEV's we all got chatting. It turned out that I'd been recognised from my UK School Games 2010 staring appearance My staring role.
The interview began with an introduction to why London were naming the volunteers Games Makers and the video of London being awarded the games. It was a full on goose-pimple moment!
The interview was made up of 6 questions. Alongside the standard interview questions you'd be asked for any job/volunteer role there was a question about my olympic games memories. This reminded me of being little, lying on the floor of the my parents living room watching the Olympics, asking if they'd ever come to England for me to see 'in real life'.....!
Wednesday 6th April 2011: Selected as a SEV!
"We are
delighted to offer you the role of Selection Event Volunteer, with the London
Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). This is a
unique opportunity to be involved with London 2012 in a pre-Games volunteering
role."
They want me? I had to pinch myself, again and again! WOW!
Tuesday 12th April 2011: Selected for a Games Maker interview!
"Congratulations, you are one step closer to becoming a London 2012
Games Maker!
We have reviewed your application and would like to invite you to
a selection event at the Baltic Centre, Gateshead."
EEeeeee!!! An interview....I've actually got a chance at going to London? EEeeeee!!! It was a rub my eyes and read again moment!
Following this email I logged into my Gamesmaker Zone and successfully booked my interview, where I discovered I'd be assigned to the Hockey team. I had previously volunteered as a Volunteer Team Leader for the UK School Games held in Tyne and Wear, at the hockey venue - hence the functional area I'd be assigned to at that point!
Saturday 7th May 2011: SEV Training!
The SEV Training was held in the Percy Building of Newcastle University, where at the time I was studying my undergraduate degree! It was a fun filled day learning all about what being a SEV entailed and how to deal with difficult questions and various personalities that we'd come across!
It was great to meet a whole host of SEV's and their hear their backgrounds and why they wanted to be involved with London 2012! Leaving the training I felt ready and prepared for the SEV adventure ahead! I was armed with my SEV Training programme, all I needed to finish now was a little thing called my final year dissertation, due the day after my 1st SEV Shift....Ops! Was I cutting it too fine?
The SEV Training was held in the Percy Building of Newcastle University, where at the time I was studying my undergraduate degree! It was a fun filled day learning all about what being a SEV entailed and how to deal with difficult questions and various personalities that we'd come across!
It was great to meet a whole host of SEV's and their hear their backgrounds and why they wanted to be involved with London 2012! Leaving the training I felt ready and prepared for the SEV adventure ahead! I was armed with my SEV Training programme, all I needed to finish now was a little thing called my final year dissertation, due the day after my 1st SEV Shift....Ops! Was I cutting it too fine?
Thursday 19th May 2011: First SEV Shift!
So, my final year dissertation was due in on Friday 20th May, the day after my first SEV shift! Being a dedicated London 2012 Volunteer my dissertation was bound and submitted 3 days early on Tuesday 17th May, just to make sure I would be ready for the 19th!
As a SEV we were all give a nice white Games Maker polo top, lanyard, wristband and 2012 pin badge....along with a pretty much unlimited supply of Cadbury's Miniature Heroes whilst we were on shift - nom nom nom! We also got a voucher for lunch/dinner/breakfast in the Baltic Cafe - very nice!
The shift began with a walk through the Selection Event Experience! We were given a walk through from the interviewee side of things, to get a full idea of what attending the Selection event was like from the outside! This took us for a tour around the exhibition on the games and into the cinema for the Eddy Izzard film!
After my training, I was all set for my 30 minute turn around of volunteers! Wow. 30 minutes is not a long time sat in your pod! 7 questions, 1 potential volunteer, 1 SEV, 2 chairs, a table, a timeline, 2 cups and a jug of water - LETS GO!
Manning the outside of my numbered pod, I patiently waited for my very first potential Games Maker! 20 minutes later I was thanking the lady for her time and wishing her the best of luck in her Games Maker Journey before I totted up her scores and returned my form to the SEV manager for the day!
The interviews were pretty much all a blur, I can't even remember how many people I interviewed over the time! There are a few of the interviews that stick out in my mind for various reasons but in general I had everything from tears of joy, tears of sadness, confusing, misunderstanding, excitement, and pretty much every other emotion under the roof!
"As you will know, we have a lot of potential Games Makers to interview, so please don't be worrying if you haven't heard by the end of the week or anything as we won't be allocating roles until the beginning of next year!"....lost count of the number of times I said that!
My time as a SEV was totally unforgettable, I heard about some amazing experience and reasons for people wanting to volunteer as Games Makers! Many of the stories were very humbling, leading me to think I was was actually qualified enough to be interview the extraordinary people in front of me!
Monday 24th May: Games Maker Interview!
Monday 24th May: Games Maker Interview!
As I was volunteering as a SEV, my Games Maker interview wasn't on any set day. I was told at the beginning of my SEV shifts that it would just be fitted in by one of the SEV Managers when I was on shift and things were quiet. This gave me no definite date so preparation and nerves just didn't really happen!
In my interview to be considered as a SEV I had already been asked questions 1 to 6 of the Games Maker interview, that left only questions 6 and 7 to be asked in my actual Games Maker Interview!
Question 6 - Why are you suited for your role in the Hockey team? Hhmmm.... I know nothing about hockey....!! I drew upon my experience at the UK School Games talking about how although I don't know the rules of hockey I knew where volunteers were required and how to manage them!
Question 7 - Would you like to be considered as a Team Leader at the Games? I had experience of leading a team, but after selling my experience, I pointed out that it wouldn't be make or break me going to the games as I'd be happy to be involved anyway they'd want me to be!
My interview was held in my favourite, "pod with a view" it was the pod at the back of the area, over looking the River Tyne from the back of the Baltic Centre. To be honest, it couldn't have been a more perfect interview! Now it was just time to cross my fingers and wait.....
Question 6 - Why are you suited for your role in the Hockey team? Hhmmm.... I know nothing about hockey....!! I drew upon my experience at the UK School Games talking about how although I don't know the rules of hockey I knew where volunteers were required and how to manage them!
Question 7 - Would you like to be considered as a Team Leader at the Games? I had experience of leading a team, but after selling my experience, I pointed out that it wouldn't be make or break me going to the games as I'd be happy to be involved anyway they'd want me to be!
My interview was held in my favourite, "pod with a view" it was the pod at the back of the area, over looking the River Tyne from the back of the Baltic Centre. To be honest, it couldn't have been a more perfect interview! Now it was just time to cross my fingers and wait.....
Seb Coe is one of my life time idols - he's up there with the Queen and Kevin McCloud. So when this unexpected email dropped into my inbox you can imagine the smile on my face!
"....I
have received outstanding feedback from the Regional Volunteer team that worked
with you – about your passion, enthusiasm, and flexibility. During the
selection event in the North East we had our busiest single day of interviewing
at one of our Regional selection events, with our SEVs collectively
interviewing 208 applicants. We have also recently interviewed our 10,000th
regional Games Maker applicant – a tremendous milestone that you helped us
achieve on our road to London 2012.
Thank you once again for being a key part of the team on our journey to London 2012 and I hope you enjoyed the event.
Seb Coe"
And then I waited......and waited........AND WAITED!
Can you sense the anticipation?? Daily checking of emails and Games Maker Zone, just in case the email went missing.... refresh, refresh, refresh!! The deadline for hearing had passed and I'd still heard nothing. We had been told we'd know by the end of April if we'd been accepted......I still waited.........UNTIL!
Can you sense the anticipation?? Daily checking of emails and Games Maker Zone, just in case the email went missing.... refresh, refresh, refresh!! The deadline for hearing had passed and I'd still heard nothing. We had been told we'd know by the end of April if we'd been accepted......I still waited.........UNTIL!
Monday 21st May 2012: My Games Maker offer for the Paralympic Games!
Only 332 days, or 10 months, and 27 days, after my interview and just under 3 months before the Olympic Opening Ceremony! Woah!!
"Congratulations!
Following your interview to be a London 2012 Games Maker, we are delighted to inform you that we would like to offer you a role in the Look team as a Mascot Team Member at the Paralympic Games!"
I don't think I've ever been more excited by an email EVER! Not even the email with my PhD over made me as excited! After spending months reading about other people getting their offers and hearing nothing I'd kind of given up hope on getting a role and was awaiting the 'thanks but no thanks email' but no - I was wanted!!!
This left me just over 3 months before the Paralympic Opening Ceremony to sort everything!! If you've read through this, you'll notice that my functional area for the games had changed, instead of the hockey team, I had now found myself part of the Mascot team! Mascot team? What is that? Do I need to dress up? Do I need to dance? OMG!
After a quick search on the Games Maker Zone....This is what I found:
“The Mascots are some of the most memorable and
best-loved parts of every Games, and you'll be vital to getting their magic out
there! Your team will be coordinating the Mascots as they operate across the
Olympic Park and other Games venues - for example making sure their costumes
are ready, supporting their briefings and helping to manage their appearances
with spectators.”
This sounded rather erm....interesting! A lot different to hockey at least!
The rest of May and June was spent hunting out accommodation and working out my train times! I'd be luck enough to secure a bursary from the Community Action Trust to help me fund my time at the Games! This was a massive help and I cannot thank the trust enough for their financial help!
Tuesday 26th June 2012: Role Specific Training!
Destination: Hackney - College! Mission: Get to a part of London I'd never ever been to before on time...in the dark!
Again it was another train down from Sheffield, arriving at Hackney for around 4:30pm, leaving me an hour to find this place! After walking down the wrong street for 10minutes I consulted my Blackberry for directions when things didn't look as they should! Aha - quick change of direction, a dodge around 'drunken lady' and I was back on the right track!
I arrived at the College a little early, had my documents checked, worried that I'd turned up on the wrong date and the wrong time, but no, all was good. I was then shown to the class room where there were a few games makers already there! Phew!
In the training we were given our Games Maker 'Bibles' a complete guide to everything we would need to know in order to be amazing Games Makers. The evening started with some ice breakers and then generic Games Maker details, then we got to meet the LOCOG Entertainment team for the 1st time!
Thankfully it turns out the professionals were the ones dressing up, those who had years of experience doing this kind of thing - thankfully! I found that my role was to support the mascot appearances, making sure the overexcited little kids, and even big kids, formed orderly queues and knew what was going on! I was also told I might have to break some hearts if there was a large queue as Mandeville only had a certain amount of time he could play out for at once! I also learned that at certain times of the day, a mascot buggy would be heading off around the park, which the Mascot team would be chaperoning! By chaperoning, they meant singing and dancing along side it to this song.... Mascot Dance!
Leaving RST, the buzz of London 2012 had returned, after the months of waiting, thinking I'd hear nothing back the joy and excitement of London 2012 was back! It was great to meet the people I'd be working along side along with putting the faces to names on emails! I don't think I stopped grinning all the way back to Sheffield!
Sunday 19th August 2012: Olympic Park Paralympic Venue Specific Training
Armed with my accreditation I headed off for Sheffield to catch an early morning train to London. Given that it was a Sunday, I had the battle of the Sunday train which likes to stop at every station on route to London!
After a break for some food and biscuits we were then separated into our 2 groups; mascot team and entertainment team! This is where I'd find out if I was to do some singing or dancing, or spend my time at the Games dressed as Wenlock or Mandeville!
Thankfully it turns out the professionals were the ones dressing up, those who had years of experience doing this kind of thing - thankfully! I found that my role was to support the mascot appearances, making sure the overexcited little kids, and even big kids, formed orderly queues and knew what was going on! I was also told I might have to break some hearts if there was a large queue as Mandeville only had a certain amount of time he could play out for at once! I also learned that at certain times of the day, a mascot buggy would be heading off around the park, which the Mascot team would be chaperoning! By chaperoning, they meant singing and dancing along side it to this song.... Mascot Dance!
Leaving RST, the buzz of London 2012 had returned, after the months of waiting, thinking I'd hear nothing back the joy and excitement of London 2012 was back! It was great to meet the people I'd be working along side along with putting the faces to names on emails! I don't think I stopped grinning all the way back to Sheffield!
Wednesday 1st August 2012: Uniform Distribution and Accreditation Collection - UDAC!
Whilst in London on some other business (I'll blog about this 'other business' later!) I headed over to UDAC to collect all things London 2012!
This is the sign which I spotted telling me I'd found what I was looking for! On arrival at the gates there was 2 cheery security chaps who's only remarks were "errr you got your passport or driving license yeah?", being nice and prepared, I had both so on I went!
Going into UDAC it reminded me a lot of a trip to Ikea! At the reception desk I was registered and given my 'shopping list' sheet! This was a list of all the things I needed before leaving UDAC with space for the Games Makers there to detail my sizes etc! Following the yellow line around the Ikea style set up, I bypassed the 'photo shoot area' as I'd already had my photo taken at the selection event! By the time I got there a nice lady was standing and asked "you must be Nicola then" and handed me my invaluable accreditation complete with the stylish photo!
Next stop was the 'shop entry' here they scanned my accreditation and directed me round to 'Clarkes' for my trainer fitting! Here there was a selection of seats and a Games Maker asked me what size I wanted. After trying on a few pairs I settled on a size 7, apparently the socks we were getting were a bit thicker and a bigger size would be more comfortable a few days into wearing I'd been told! From here I was directed to sit on another line of empty chairs before the next stage of the adventure!
Just as my bottom was meeting the chair another Games Maker came around the corner..."would you like to follow me please?"....so off I went. When I turned the corner, lined up in front of me were racks and racks of Games Maker, Officials and what ever else uniforms along side a set of changing rooms that would give Primark a run for it's money! After a good 20 minutes (maybe more!) I settled on a size small for my uniform as the medium, I decided, was just too big - although the small was very fitted!
The final step in getting my uniform was the 'baggage area'. Here I handed my shopping list of sizes to the Game Makers in this area and they packed up my uniform and trainers alongside bag, socks, cap, water bottle and Swatch - my personal favourite part of the games maker uniform! After it was bagged it was then taken to the checkout where 2 lovely Games Makers scanned and bagged my precious uniform ready for departure!
The final stage in UDAC was the collection of my Games Maker Oyster card, allowing me free travel around London during the Paralympics!
Overall, I found my trip to UDAC AMAZING! It really got me ready for what was about to come! I was only there for about 40 minutes, with the majority of the time being spent trying on different sizes of clothes and then re-trying them again! Who would have known packing your Games Maker Uniform would take up so much room!!! It's a good job I wasn't flying to London!
Armed with my accreditation I headed off for Sheffield to catch an early morning train to London. Given that it was a Sunday, I had the battle of the Sunday train which likes to stop at every station on route to London!
Arriving at the park it was very surreal! Having been here just a few weeks prior to this, on Super Saturday, the park was in it's transition phase, and feeling like a ghost town!
I made my way through security, and across to the copper box where I'd watched the handball. On arrival we were given a couple more sheets to add to our Games Maker Pocket Guide, a bottle of water and a famous Nature Valley bar - with chocolate in I'll add!
The training began with a few introductions and house keeping before the presentation began! A lot of the presentation was to do with health and safety whilst on the park and in venues. We were also told who to call in an emergency - 'Olympic 999' as it's stored in my phone still!
After the formal side of the training, we were broken off into our functional areas to go on a tour of the park! We had a walk up to the velodrome, the bandstand was pointed out, along with the emergency assembly points. The tour finished at the point where we would be checking into our first Games Maker shift just a few weeks later.....It was all becoming so real now!!
Overall, the training lasted about 2hr30 of the 4hrs it was said to take. I got to meet some of the Games Makers I'd be volunteering alongside in the weeks ahead. This lead to a final wander around Westfield before heading back to St. P's for the train back to Sheffield.
Wednesday 29th August 2012: Departure from Newcastle to London!
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