Gateshead 2013: European Athletics Championships

Date: 21st to 23rd June 2013

Location: Gateshead International Stadium (GIS)

Mission: European Athletics Championships

Role: Overall Team Leader - Spectator Services

A weekend of being in the right place at the right time! 

After a long time volunteer in Sheffield, I am excited to get opportunity to be involved with an event held just 10 minutes along the road from my home in Gateshead - it would have been rude not to apply to volunteer......I mean go and spend some quality time at my parents....obviously!

So far, I've completed my training at the stadium. It was good to see some friendly faces from when I volunteered with Gateshead's Get with it! volunteer programme after I graduated back in 2011! It was however, worrying to see the field looking like this. I didn't realise open water swimming was now an event at the European Champs (hehe!)..... I'm sure the grounds team at the stadium will have it looking ship shape by the weekend!

I'll try and update this over the weekend - although it might have to wait until next week... I'm doing 10am till 7pm shifts, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have!

Day 1: Friday 21st June 2013
I headed down to Gateshead International Stadium (GIS) for around 10am to collect my lovely uniform, affectionately nicknamed the 'Dutch Smurf' costume by the lovely guys and girls in the kit and accreditation team....Something to do with the bright orange and navy.....along with oversized trousers! Once uniformed up, I had my Team Leader training from the volunteer management team - sadly I couldn't make the official Team Leader Training days as I was playing netball and the like! This is when I found out I'd be coordinating a team of 70 volunteers (!!), assisted by 7 amazing Assistant Team Leaders. The area the volunteers in the Spectator Services team covered was HUGE! From the platforms of Gateshead Stadium Metro, right up to the stadium and within the stands, also including programme selling! It was clear I'd definitely be putting in the miles this weekend!

Now armed with my uniform, list of phone numbers and my standard issue council mobile telephone, it was time to plan where the army of volunteers were to be placed! Normally at events, I get issued a map with strict guidelines on exact position of volunteers i.e. 1 volunteer must be in position X for the hours of 9am - 5pm, but at this event I had free rain on how to optimise the volunteer workforce! Whilst checking out the stadium, it was a relief to see the open water swimming event had been cancelled and the stadium was back to track and field, not track and pool!

Once I had a plan firmly in my mind, and coordinated a guy with a fork lift and a squad of volunteers to move the boxes of programmes from the middle of the car park to a much more sensible location, it was lunch time! The joy of a cheese sandwich and a Mars bar returned!

As I was not assigned a role for the Friday, my plan was to just potter around helping where I could until I was no longer needed, which I presumed would be after lunch. This was going to be the case until I got asked if I'd mind doing a bit of a ticket selling up in the box office, as there had been a bit of a rush! So off I went to the box office to sell those tickets!!

Being in the box office was great fun! The number of people that came to buy tickets that had never attended an athletics event before was refreshing. Many said how they'd seen it on TV, during the Olympics, and wanted to see it live was evidence no matter what news papers try to put across, the Legacy of London 2012 is still inspiring people to get involved with sport!

I was armed with lots of seating plans, a till (that reminded me of when I first started working in Primark) and piles of tickets! There were a real variety of people coming along to buy tickets, with a near steady stream keeping me busy! Being in the box office, I got a real sense of what was going on! Teams were arriving and departing from their pre-event training sessions in the stadium - there was just a real hub of activity!

Later in the afternoon, I found out some news, that I honestly couldn't believe! The lady in the box office had been trying to get in touch with the event management team but was unsuccessful. Eventually, her call was returned. When she came off the phone, I nearly cried with excitement. She said....."You'll never guess why she didn't answer the first time?......She was picking up Lord Coe".......AHHHHHHH!!!! I hadn't realised that he was going to be at the event! I was speechless! Anyone who knows me, knows, I had 2 idols in life Kevin McCloud (I really want to be him in the future!) and Lord Seb Coe! Having met Kevin by chance a month ago at Grand Designs Live, I couldn't believe Seb was now in my home town. Meeting him didn't cross my mind. I was just mega surprised he was in Gateshead and wondered if he'd be giving a speech at the opening event I was planning on going to later that evening.

So the afternoon went on with no more excitement - the fact that Lord Coe was in Gateshead was the peak of my excitement so nothing matched up to that. By 5:30pm I decided I'd head off and went to the workforce tent to confirm the plans for in the morning before heading to the Baltic Square for the Opening Ceremony.

After around a 30 minute walk from GIS to Baltic Square I said Hello to a few other volunteers. Even though I still wasn't due to be doing any official volunteering, I helped track down the children from various schools that had been nominated as flag bearers for the ceremony. As the ceremony was about to begin, a large group of special guests arrived just by where I was standing. Looking around to see if there was any faces I recognised I couldn't believe my eyes! LORD SEB COE WAS STANDING THERE! I turned to another volunteer and said, that's Seb isn't it? She wasn't sure what I was on about....so I turned to another...."I'm not dreaming here, that is Seb Coe over there isn't it?" Just as I said this, a journalist came over and took him away to get some media shots with the Tyne Bridge in the background. Now usually I see myself as a 'Professional volunteer'....appreciating that as a volunteer I shouldn't be bugging athletes and the like for photos or autographs....but this was time to make an exception to the rule. It was now or never! Off I went to meet my life idol. I don't think it had actually sunk in that he was just a few metres away. I'd always joked with people, that if I ever got to meet Seb, I would be unable to find words and just cry on him. But luckily I held it together. Once I returned to the volunteers I'd been standing with, what had just happened sunk in, and I'm proud to say tears filled my eyes. I couldn't believe it! The next thought that crossed my mind was, Dammit! I should have made the most of it and got his autograph too - but I had no paper and no pen!

Standing around singing the Blaydon Races with the Swing Bridge Swingers who were performing I noticed that a couple of young guys were queueing to get Lord Coe to sign their London 2012 Programmes with marker pens.....this is when the thought crossed my mind - I had my trainers!!! Now I usually wear my Games Maker Trainers as my general trainers, I bought a couple of pairs from the Uniform sale after the games as I find them pretty stylish and comfortable - I also thought it would save me the hassle of buying non-sporting trainers for a couple of years! As you can imagine, after nearly a years worth of wear, my Games Time Trainers I had on are now a bit bashed, worn and 'slightly' smelly. But that didn't stop me. "Lord Coe, I was wondering if I could ask you a very cheeky question?"...Lord Coe looks slightly confused and probably scared of the question which would follow...."Is there any chance you'd sign my trainers?"...with this Seb looked down at my feet and smiled, "As long as you take it off and pass it up, I'm not getting down there"...off come my trainer (luckily I had decent socks on!) Lord Coe took a bit of time over signing my trainer, it wasn't the quick squiggle that he'd done on the programmes and the like. After signing he then asked about where I was games time, if I'd enjoyed my Games Maker time, and thanked me for my volunteer both then and now! I smiled and thanked him for the opportunity then backed off in fear I'd make a fool of myself or tell him I have a picture of him on my living room wall, make myself seem like a crazy stalker!

As the event went on, more flags were paraded, more music, and speeches continued. Just as the event was finishing, I noticed that Seb was still around now with Brendan Foster by his side. It was good to see that the event had attracted quite a high profile range of guests!! Some of the GB team, and German team had turned out for the opening, alongside what seemed like the majority of the Norway team!

After the event wound up, a few of us volunteers had arranged to meet at a pub in Gateshead for a couple of lemonades to celebrate the event kicking off and the weekend ahead! On the way to the pub - slightly lost - I stopped to ask a couple of Police men exactly where the pub was that we were heading for, after giving directions they asked if we'd been to the event on the quayside and if anyone famous was there.....I think you'll be able to guess exactly the story they were told!

After a glass of ice cold Hooch (haven't had that in years!) it was time to head off to get a good nights sleep for the beginning of competition!

Day 2: Saturday 22nd June 2013
8:30am I arrived at the workforce tent to brave a pair of Smurf trousers - thankfully I'd brought a belt! In their defence, they're very useful with the amount of pockets they have! 9am team leaders were briefed and we set off on a mini tour of the stadium - led by myself as to what was going on where!

It made me smile to see how much recycled London 2012 athletics equipment was in the stadium! Lane numbers, shot put carriers, high jump, hurdles and pole vault to name a few!

At 10am, all things were go. I already had a list of areas/teams that were short of volunteers and wanted to pinch some of the spectator services team! After prioritising areas volunteers were needed, I climbed onto a chair and welcomed the ~70 volunteers who made up the spectator services team! After introducing myself and the assistant team leaders, drinks vouchers were distributed and volunteers taken for tours of their stands and areas! Within the first hour or so, it was manic! Constant calls on the radio for volunteers to be sent to different teams from the spectator services team. As we were the biggest team with no specific locations to operate in, we were the easiest to take from to fill other teams operating in the stadium, such as data entry, doping control, athlete marshalling, tourist information'ing, tickets selling etc. I think it got to the point where we had more than halved in numbers and the time came that we couldn't spare any more volunteers!!!

Throughout the day, I dealt with various incidents I won't go into detail here, and 'roamed' around the stadium checking everything was going OK, and that there was no issues to report. Being a volunteer you sign up to help with the event, not to become a spectator, so as usual I saw pretty much none of the actual event. At one point I found myself coordinating a team of kit carriers for the relay when I looked up at the video board to see Greg Rutherford preparing for his jump.....next thing I know....he'd landed in the sand pit beside me! Wow!




Except coordinating lunch cover (!!) everything ran pretty smoothly and as the afternoon went on, apart from the odd issue, there was nothing to report! Preparation begun for stadium egress - which we anticipated to be at around 5:25pm, after Mo Farahs race! At around 5:05pm I found myself in the south stand organising logistics with the assistant team leader when a massive cheer erupted in the stand.....Mo Farah had just entered the stadium! At this point all plans were in place for after the race, so I decided to stay in the stand to watch the event - what an event it was! Around 2 laps from the end of the race, Mo found himself leading the group. Once that bell rang for final lap, it was as thought a button had been pressed and Mo was accelerating like nothing I've seen before! Turns out it was the fastest final 400m he's ever ran! As soon as he crossed the line, I put a call out on the radio for the volunteers and off we went to line the route from the stadium to the metro, much like the final milers in London 2012. As predicted, a lot of the spectators started leaving the stadium and making their way home. A lot of the spectators were also hanging around the athletes exit waiting for Mo to leave.

After all the spectators had left, leaving just the autograph hunters hanging around, the assistant team leaders and myself made our way to the metro station to check that everything was in order and inform the volunteers it was home time! Just as we were making our way back into the stadium to make a short cut back to the workforce tent, I spotted the lovely Greg Rutherford leaving the athletes exit. Since I wasn't technically on shift any more, and he is so lovely, the assistant team leaders and myself took the chance to say hello and grab a cheeky photo! After this, radio's were handed in and a quick team leader debrief before it was home time and bed time!


Day 3: 23rd June 2013

Day 3 started pretty much the same as the day before, with the added advantage of everyone knowing what to expect and how things operated. The morning started with a switch round of teams so that the 'dreaded' metro team weren't the same people as the previous day. Sunday ran like clockwork. Lunch cover sorted. I was left feeling a slightly surplus to requirements, only been needed to answer the odd radio call as the assistant team leaders were on top form! What we did have on Sunday that we didn't on Saturday was rain........LOTS of rain, with the odd bit of thunder and lightening thrown in! There was much rain that at one point we had a 'slight' moat!



The down pour of rain led to the requirement of lots of ponchos! So I jumped at the chance to help distribute ponchos to the athletes warm up area which require the use of a golf buggy! Yes, I was let loose, around members of the public, on main roads in this thing! It was brilliant! Much like driving my car to be honest! My side kick pointed out we could even turn on the flashing light to make us  more visible - I'm not sure if this was a suggestion or a way of politely saying it was required whilst I was driving - who knows!


Next on my to-do list was to identify with the help of the assistant team leaders, which volunteers had gone above and beyond their volunteering role over the weekend and should be given the honour of assisting with the awarding pf the medals and trophy to the winning teams! Once they were decided on, the job then came to find them! Throughout the day, the volunteers change round and rotated, so it was like finding a needle in a hay stack finding these guys! Eventually they were all found, and their roles if required covered by other volunteers so they could head off to their rehearsals! 6 of them in total were involved with raising the winning teams flags, escorting the mayor and the trophy, and handing out the team medals! It was great to see members of the spectator services out there in centre stage!

Whilst manning the start of the metro route today, a familiar face came out of the athletes exit - Isobel Pooley . Having met her at the BUCS Champs opening, a few months prior, it would have been rude not to say hello and grab a photo! As last time we met, she was very polite and keen to make sure I passed on her thanks to the volunteers for the event, as without us, it would not have happened :)

Now the crowds had left, all that was left to do was ensure that there were no volunteers left on site, before heading back with the assistant team leaders to drop in our radios - and the lovely mobile phone!

Walking back through the stadium to the workforce tent, I was amazed at how the stadium can so quickly be transformed from a hub of excitement to silence. As we walked down the 100m track, the only real noise in the stadium came from the flags flapping in the wind.

Another successful event over - it was time to head to the volunteer and athletes party, held in Northumbria University's students Union. So off we went to catch the metro (something I haven't done for a long long time - fancy tickets now and everything!) into town.

Sadly I couldn't stay at the party more than a couple of hours, as I was planning to drive back to Sheffield that evening so I was ready for my 9am Supervisor meeting. It was great to see a lot of the volunteers there, and even some of the athletes who weren't flying out till the following day made an appearance!

Overall, it was amazing to be involved with the first major event since London 2012. It was good to volunteer back in my home town and see such athletes compete no more than 10 minutes away from my parents house! I was also really surprised at how many volunteered had travelled miles to volunteer at the event - again showing how the London 2012 volunteer Legacy is shining through!

Another thing I should mention about the European Champs is the focus on making the event sustainable. Gateshead Council encouraged members of the public to make pledges before the games, along with the use of some electric vehicles throughout the event!  This gets a massive thumbs up from me!

BUCS Gatorade Nationals: Sheffield

Date: 22nd to 24th February 2013

Location: English Institute of Sport Sheffield (EIS)
Mission: British Universities & Colleges Sport Gatorade Nationals
Role: Volunteer Coordinator

Volunteering for the BUCS Gatorade Nationals began on Wednesday 20th February 2012, with a volunteer training session held at the EIS. On arrival I was issued with my stylish BUCS t-shirt - although I was slightly confused as to why my small t-shirt was definitely not what you'd usual class as small! Apparently this is due to it being a Rugby Brand......!!! Anyway....At the same time as my t-shirt I was giving the volunteer bible, detailing how the weekend would run, what was going on where and who to call, if all else failed!

The training session began with a ice breaker quiz, not being from Sheffield I pretty much failed this as they asked you to identify the athletes from an obscure photographs! I did however get Jess Ennis correct and guessed at they were all from Sheffield! The next part of the quiz was a 'What happened next...?' style video section. Again, I was terrible at this and it's fair to say I was definitely not the the winner of the quiz! I was pretty glad I was hiding at the back of the room!

Next up in the training (now the ice was broken!) the BUCS team went through a background to what BUCS is all about and why it is such a successful event - being a university student I already knew about BUCS and what they stand for so this bit wasn't anything new! The session went onto talk about the sponsors and what Gatorade would be up to at the event. For many events there are not a sponsor present in the way that Gatorade would be, so I was interested to find out how their involvement would affect the mood of the event. The final session was an introduction the staff and volunteer coordinators for the event to the rest of the volunteers! This is where I had to stand up and give a wave....only to receive abuse about my Sooty and Sweep Jumper...hehe! At the end of the training I was given my shifts for the weekend....nice 24hrs of my life in 2 days would be spent volunteering here...is it sad that.....I just couldn't wait for the weekend! :D

Overall, it was a pretty standard training session, 30mins long, nothing out of the ordinary with regards to content. What would have been greatly beneficial at the training session was to have a walk around the venue to familiarise myself and the other volunteers of the positions volunteers would be covered, so that it wasn't such a mad dash at the weekend - but never mind!

My volunteering for BUCS started on the Friday night at the VIP Launch of the competition. This event was held in Sheffield's Winter Gardens and was a very chilled affair in more ways than one! I'd been told to prepare a 5minutes speech on my volunteering experience, how I got involved with sports volunteering and the 'other skills' gained from volunteering! All day in the office at Uni, I'd had my BUCS T-shirt and smart trousers hanging up to ensure I was smart and professional looking, only to be asked multiple question about what my latest volunteer event was about!

I had prepared my speech in the week leading up to the event and knew I was the first of 3 speakers for the evening. Following myself there was Isobel Pooley an high jumper from Nottingham University, and Toby Thie, an athletics coach from Cardiff Met University - all sharing their experience of what it's like to be at a BUCS event.

My speech was typical of me, having gave a few speeches in my time I was totally at ease in front of the small gathering there for the event. My speech ran through my volunteering to date, including my London 2012 involvement along side my regular netball volunteering at Sheffield Stormers. As per usual, there were the odd bits of humour which seemed to go down well, especially the fact that I must be from the north since I was only wearing my t-shirt in a some what baltic winter garden!. Luckily I'd checked with the compare Alex as to how he was going to introduce me, otherwise part of my speech would have been dead in the water! 

When ever I volunteer at these events, people always presume I'm doing sports at University and all this volunteering is just to add to my CV when I graduate. How wrong could they be!! As I highlighted in my speech - volunteering for me isn't about the experience for my CV.

I won't bore you with the whole things, just the more interesting bits.....

"From hearing my experiences, like most people I speak to at sports events you’ll have presumed I'm heading for a career in sports, or at least something along those lines. This couldn't be any further from the true. I'm actually a civil engineer, now studying a PhD at the University of Sheffield.

Many of my friends don’t understand why I choose to give up my weekends, pay to stay in London, travel all over the country volunteering, when it has nothing to do with my future career. All my friends see of my volunteering experiences is the range of t-shirts, pin badges and baton I now own, but volunteering is more than that.

What my friends who haven’t volunteered before don’t see is that, volunteering, allows you to develop transferable skills which are applicable to any career path you choose. Whether I’m volunteering on a Saturday morning with Sheffield Stormers Netball Club, or in the middle of the Olympic Park doing a song and dance, I’m gaining vital life experiences and developing skills applicable in my everyday life and my university course, whilst also having an amazing time!

Volunteering develops skills, without you really noticing, such as your customer service skills whilst selling programmes, organisational skills, whilst coordinating a team of 30 volunteers and time management when it comes to those early starts! One of the greatest skills developed through volunteering is the ability to work as a team. Basically, being part of a group of people, from all different walks of life, coming together as one team to make an event run like clockwork – where else do you get such an opportunity?

I must admit, for me, the thing that makes volunteering most addictive, is the people I meet, the friendships I make and the totally unforgettable experiences I have to tell my friends and family about!"

[[Sadly, being the one giving the speech and my parents not being present, I was unable to snap a stylish photo of myself at the lecture in front of the BUCS Gatorade sign-age.......sad times as it would have been ideal here!]]

Following my speech it was excellent to hear the views of Isobel and Toby, gaining an inside into what these events mean to them, representing the other people involved in a BUCS event! After the speeches were all done and dusted there was a final chance to network, munch on the delicious canapés and finish off a glass of wine before my none stop weekend!

I had been hoping a representative from Sports Sheffield would have been present at the event as I'd hoped to have a chat about how the university supports sports volunteering. During my time at Sheffield, I've noticed a massive difference in sports volunteering culture between my time at Newcastle University and my  time now at  the University of Sheffield, so was hoping to have a chat with them, but today wasn't going to be my day!

My weekend began with a 8:15am start.....which lead to me being stuck in traffic outside EISS for a good 20mins - I'll never learn that there is ALWAYS more traffic on a Saturday when there is an event on, compared to my normal Saturday mornings coaching netball!

I'm always amazed at how the same venue can be transformed to look totally different for every event I volunteer at. I love the way a bit of branding can totally change what is usual deemed as 'normal' training venue for many athletes into something a bit more special!

Having not volunteering that long in Sheffield (in comparison to the hardy regulars!) spotting the volunteers I was coordinating that day was a bit of a challenge and as per usual I seemed very rude not knowing their names! I normally like to be able to use peoples names and have something to relate to them about as I'm quite an open and friendly personality, so the first few hours felt a little awkward for me. Saying that, it wasn't long before I'd learn everyone's names and issued them with a lunch voucher and a rota detailing their volunteer positions and when their all important lunch breaks were!!

This weekend, the volunteers were different to the usual crowd! Mixed in with the usual bunch of the Sheffield Council Volunteering team were some students from Sheffield's Universities and some Games Makers from Sheffield. It was good to have some new faces around and some refresh volunteers ready to get going volunteering in their local area - strengthening the legacy from London 2012 of creating a volunteer work force!!!

Having previously volunteered at events with a different event management team (I'll name no names...hehe), it was a totally different experience (and a massive relief!) to be volunteering with the BUCS team! I've never know an event management team by so relaxed and chilled out, and yet put on a successful event! It was great to be giving more responsibility to be left to do my job without constant radio/telephone calls about trivial things!

By the end of the Saturday, looking at the rota, there was only myself plus 1 volunteer down to be volunteering from 7:00pm till 9:30pm - thinking this was a little strange and maybe unnecessary I double checked with the volunteer manager who to my delighted said my thinking was correct and they'd manage without us for the rest of the evening as G4S were also covering the event! This meant........ EARLY FINISH!! By the time I got finished up and into the car I was relieved at the early finish. Although  if I'd have been needed I'd have happily stayed, but once I'd stopped being on the go I was most definitely ready for bed!

After a few hours of sleep (no thanks to my silly noisy neighbours!!!) I was back at EIS for 8am the next morning, ready and raring to  go! Again, it was a mix of volunteers from a variety of backgrounds, adding a bit of interest to the day! On the Sunday I was kept on my toes as the day wound down and volunteer positions were no longer needed, as they'd been specified, meaning volunteers were reallocated to different roles, and to some of the team, the joys of an early finish!

By 5:30pm all athletics competition has finished, with just some badminton still going on at the EISS. At this point I was relieved to hear I wasn't going to be required until 7pm as I'd previously been told! My bed was definitely calling after the busy, but totally enjoyable weekend!

To sum up my weekend of BUCS, I'd have to say it was an event like no other -what with the over sized t-shirts, relaxed (but successful!!) event management and the student vibe about the event. Not even the volunteers were the same as usual! The only thing which was the same as previous events was the volunteer packed lunches - the delight of a high calorie treat for the middle of your shift ;)



Giving my speech on the Friday night gave me a nice reminder as to why I volunteer in sport and what makes it most addictive! I couldn't help but reflect on this over the weekend, thinking about the points I'd made to all those gathered at the Winter Gardens. It was true, it's all about the people you meet and share the experience with, along with the practical aspect of using the skills gained from other events.....I even collected a BUCS pin badge to add to the collection, so my friends could see I did take "something" away from the event!


Hopefully the BUCS Gatorade Nationals will return to Sheffield next year...Fingers cross it won't be when Sochi for the winter Olympics, meaning I can get involved again!