London 2012 offers first Games Maker volunteer roles

[richard]

The London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today moves to the next phase of the Games Maker programme by starting to offer candidates a volunteering role at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

10,000 applicants will be notified by email this week that, subject to the required security checks, they have been chosen for a volunteer role as a London 2012 Games Maker. The offers made today are the first of thousands of emails which will be sent to applicants over the coming months.

Due to the volume of applicants and scale of the Games Maker programme, which is presented by McDonald’s, applicants who have already attended a Games Maker interview, but do not receive an email this week, should continue to check their emails regularly as LOCOG will make offers of roles until the end of April 2012.

Among the first applicants contacted today are Nader Mozakka, from north-west London, who will be an NOC Assistant in the Athletes' Village, Steve Tarrant, from Poole who has been assigned a role as a medal/flower bearer at the sailing venue in Weymouth and Portland; Maggie Hendry from Dundee who will be a Physiotherapist at North Greenwich Arena at Games time; Erin Morgan from Newry who will be an Event Services team member at the Olympic Park and Charlotte Evans from Newport who has been assigned a role as an Event Services Team Member for Wimbledon.

LOCOG needs up to 70,000 volunteers for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will continue to make conditional offers through a rolling programme of monthly offers between now and April 2012. With interviews being conducted until the end of March 2012, those yet to be invited to interview have every opportunity of being selected as a Games Maker and are encouraged to check their emails regularly for further correspondence.

Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG, said: ‘It has been a privilege for my team to meet and interview so many enthusiastic and dedicated people from right across the UK who would like to volunteer with us and make the Games a success for athletes, media and spectators alike. Beginning to make offers of roles this week marks the next stage of the Games Maker programme to put the best possible team together to welcome the world next summer.

'Given the numbers of people involved, conditional offers will be made in several stages and with interviews set to continue until the end of March 2012, there is still plenty of time for applications to progress. I wish everyone who offered us their time the best of luck with their application and encourage them to keep checking their email for updates.'

Games Makers receiving an email this week with details of the conditional offer will be asked to confirm their acceptance of the role within two weeks of receiving the email to allow the required Home Office and CRB checks to be undertaken. Games Makers will be asked to log on to Games Maker Zone and accept their role.
Upon successful completion of the checks, Games Makers will receive further details of the training sessions to take place from February 2012 onwards.

By 31 December 2011, everyone who has applied to be a Games Maker will hear from London 2012. They will either have been offered a role, been interviewed and yet to be offered a role, received an invitation to interview for a date in 2012 or been told that they have been unsuccessful as an applicant.

LOCOG expects to begin notifying candidates who are not successful with their application to be a Games Maker from November 2011. The high quality and number of applications means it will not be possible to offer everyone a Games Maker position. The standard was so high, selection has been a challenge for the London 2012 team.

A quarter of a million people applied to the Games Maker programme last year and a team of specially trained volunteer interviewers has been carrying out selection interviews since February 2011. Since the application process closed in October 2010, LOCOG has removed 60,000 incomplete applications having made multiple approaches to candidates to encourage them to complete their application. This means the chances of being called forward for interview has increased for remaining applicants.

Out of the 100,000 interviews which will be conducted over the course of the programme, over 50,000 interviews have taken place to date in nine selection centres around the UK. Interviews will continue in London’s selection centre at ExCel through to the end of March 2012.

Minister for the Olympics, Hugh Robertson, said: 'I would like to congratulate all those who have been offered Games Maker roles. The competition for places has been intense with considerable numbers of high quality candidates putting their names forward. The Games Makers will be integral to the success of the Games and in particular the impression we make upon the global sports family.'

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'Games Maker volunteers will provide welcoming faces around the venues to athletes, spectators and the world's media when they descend on our great city next year. Combined with the forces of my London Ambassadors, part of our ever growing Team London volunteer army, we will be in great shape to give people coming to the capital in 2012 a truly unforgettable experience.'

Worldwide Olympic Partner McDonald’s is the Presenting Partner of the Games Maker volunteer programme. McDonald’s has used its nationwide presence to help attract candidates for the diverse team that will be needed to make the London 2012 Games a success. The LOCOG Volunteer team held training sessions for many of the volunteers conducting interviews at the world-class training facilities at McDonald’s head office in East Finchley, London and the restaurant chain will also be helping to facilitate the training of the volunteers in the run up to Games time.

Jill McDonald, CEO McDonald’s UK, said: ‘Our people are at the heart of our business and we’re proud to have been able to share our expertise in customer service and people development with the Organising Committee to help select the very best team of volunteers for the London Games.

‘Being able to draw on comparisons between the high energy levels and strength of teamwork required by our staff, day in day out across our 1,200 restaurants in the UK will mean we are well placed to support LOCOG in the training of these Games Makers. As we enter the next stage of this programme we aim to help provide the volunteers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver an outstanding level of hospitality at the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year.’

LOCOG is looking for enthusiastic, committed and friendly people to be the face of the Games and show the world what the UK is all about: excellence, passion and positivity. The Games Makers will undertake a wide variety of specialist and generalist roles at the Olympic and Paralympic Games including checking tickets, running information desks, distributing uniform, assisting on the field of play, and working in the medical services team. For more details of the roles available please go to Volunteering home | London 2012

LOCOG recently announced details of the Young Games Maker roles which will see over 2,000 young people recruited to take up volunteer roles alongside the adult Games Makers. Approximately 250 teams of young people, who must be aged 16 or over on 1 July 2012 and under 18 on 1 January 2012 will join the adult Games Makers next summer to help stage the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Applications for generalist Young Games Maker role open tomorrow on 22 September 2011 and must be made by adult team leaders from organisations such as sports clubs, community groups and schools and colleges in the Get Set Network. Applications will be received until
31 October 2011 at www.london2012.com/younggamesmaker.

Cadbury is an Official Supporter of the London 2012 Games Maker programme and will help LOCOG build great Games Maker teams through fun and friendly game play delivered by programmes such as the Spots v Stripes campaign.

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For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100 or visit the website at London 2012. Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog London 2012 blog | London 2012 or follow us on Twitter at London 2012 (@London2012) on Twitter

Notes to editors:

Nader Mozakka – 55 years old, from North West London
Nader is head of computer software at the Health Protection Agency and has been in the industry for 30 years. Persian is Nader’s first language and he is looking forward to using his language skills at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Nader has not done much volunteering but recently helped out at the recent Chef de Mission event at the Olympic Park. His family are really supportive and he has had to give up his Opening Ceremony ticket to them in order to become a volunteer; a price he is more than willing to pay to be volunteering at the Games. He will be an NOC assistant in the Athletes’ Village

Steve Tarrant – 50 years old, from Poole
Steve used to work in IT but now plays a huge role in Motorsport Endeavour – a charity which promotes motoring and motorsport to the disabled. Despite being injured in a Formula 1 accident, losing his leg and using a wheelchair, Steve continues to volunteer as a Motor Sports Marshal and has been doing so for 22 years. He has been assigned as a medal/flower bearer at the sailing venue in Weymouth and Portland.

Maggie Hendry – 36 years old, from Dundee, Scotland
Having volunteered at the Delhi Commonwealth Games as a physiotherapist, Maggie knew she wanted to help make the London 2012 Games a success. Maggie is a huge sports fan and has been professionally involved in elite sports. She has been assigned a Games Maker role as a Physiotherapist at North Greenwich Arena One.

Erin Morgan – 19 years old, Newry, Country Down
Erin is a student studying Biomedical Science at Liverpool University and hopes in the future to pursue a career in Medicine. She is a keen dancer, and has represented Newry in dance in the past. She has volunteered at a hospice assisting nurses and has also travelled to Zambia with her school in conjunction with the charity Habitat for Humanity. She has been assigned a role as Event Services team member at the Olympic Park.

Charlotte Evans – 31 years old, Newport, Wales
Charlotte has applied with her husband Lee Evans to volunteer for the Games. Charlotte works at the local primary school in Newport, Wales. This will be Charlotte’s first time volunteering out of school and she is looking forward to sharing the once in a lifetime experience. She has been assigned as an Event Services Team Member for Wimbledon.

Games Maker timeline
January 2011 onwards: short-listed applicants begin to be invited to a selection event
February 2011 – March 2012: selection events take place
September 2011 onwards: conditional offer begin to be made to successful applicants
February 2012: orientation training begins
February 2012: role-specific training begins
March 2012: event leadership training begins
April 2012: distribution of uniforms and accreditation passes begin
April 2012: venue training begins.

McDonald's is the Presenting Partner of the volunteering programme. The organisation currently employees 80,000 people across the UK and each year invests over £30millilion in training this workforce. McDonald's gained recognition by the Great Places to Work in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and has also been in The Times Top 100 of Graduate Employers for ten consecutive years. The company has been ranked as one of Britain's Top employers to be granted awarding body status and is currently one of the UK's biggest providers of Apprenticeships.

Cadbury’s association with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as Official Treat Provider to the 2012 Games will be the biggest programme ever undertaken in Cadbury’s history – underpinning commercial, marketing, merchandising and employee engagement up to London 2012 and beyond.

To celebrate its support of London 2012, Cadbury has launched Spots v Stripes, an ambitious and exciting campaign that aims to get people of all ages and walks of life to play games again.

Atos Origin - The Games Maker volunteer portal has been designed and built by Atos Origin - Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic Games through to 2016. In the run up to the London 2012 Games, the portal developed by Atos Origin will enable London 2012 to recruit up to 70,000 volunteers. The portal will be the main channel of communication between the Games Maker volunteers and the London 2012 Organising Committee.

McCann - The Games Maker idea was created by McCann Worldgroup, the official Marketing Services Provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. They are also responsible for developing and executing the fully integrated advertising campaign to attract applicants in 2010.

As it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty-eight domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heathrow Airport, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, NATURE VALLEY, Next, Nielsen, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster, Trebor and Westfield.

There is one domestic Tier One Paralympic Games Partner, Sainsbury’s and one domestic Tier Three Paralympic Supplier, Otto Bock.

The Worldwide Olympic Partners signed up for London 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos, Dow Chemical Company, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.


Source
London 2012

Image: Jonathan Edwards with potential Games Makers at the volunteer selection event in the North East earlier this year.