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!
