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Olympic volunteering - London 2012

- Posted on Apr 12, 2007

Olympic volunteering - London 2012 The announcement that the 2012 Olympics will be coming to London will lead to seven years of frenetic activity. From the evidence of the bid process, it seems clear that volunteering will have a huge part to play. Officials say that more than 70,000 volunteers will be needed to deliver the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012 and there is already a dedicated London Olympics volunteering website, www.volunteer2012.com At a special summit meeting in June, more than 80 voluntary organisations from across the UK pledged their support for the Olympic bid. Sydney 2000 This emphasis on the role of volunteers can be traced back to the Sydney Olympics 2000. Widely regarded as the most successful Games in history, they utilised more than 45,000 volunteers in many different roles. As the official post-Games report stated: "For the crowds who came to Sydney from around the world, the volunteers were the face of the Sydney Games." The Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002 took a similar approach. Volunteers not only helped out with a wide-range of practical tasks, they also set the tone for the whole event. Local people, proud to be able to take part, gave the Games the added dimension that volunteering so often provides. Athens 2004 An insight into what volunteering in 2012 might be like can be seen in the experience of the Athens Olympics 2004. In an interview with Euracti.com the Manager for Volunteer Selection and Orientation Training for Athens 2004, Olga Kikou said that of more than 160,000 applications around 65% had come from the home country, Greece. "Other than Greece," he continued, "the top five countries in terms of numbers (to the nearest thousand) are US - 10,000, Spain - 6,800, Germany - 5,170, UK - 4,800 and Australia - 4,450." With only around 45,000 volunteering opportunities available, a large number of applications were unsuccessful and this is likely to be repeated in 2012. A full assessment of the Athens 2004 volunteer programme can be found on the official website. Beijing 2008 Volunteer recruitment for the next Olympics, Beijing 2008 will start in April 2008, according to the Volunteer Action Plan. Applications from overseas volunteers will be welcomed, but it is likely that people will have to meet their own costs. Some knowledge of China is also likely to be required.