Our Paralympics Experience
By Kathleen Lord
It all started one summer afternoon in my Year 4 classroom – 6th July 2005! My class had been learning about the Ancient Greek games at Olympia. Several children, with fingers crossed, gathered with me around the radio as the winner of the bid for the 2012 Olympics was announced. When we heard that we had beaten Paris, the children screamed with excitement and raced out onto the playground to share the news with their peers. “We’ve got the Olympics!” they repeated over and over again.
I have to say I was just as excited as they were and, as I knew that I would be retired by 2012, I vowed there and then to volunteer for the games. I encouraged my husband to apply as well and, six years later, we completed the first stage – lengthy online application forms.
In October 2011, we were called for interview, and our places in the team for the Paralympics were confirmed in December. During the next 8 months, we attended three training sessions – the last and most useful one of which was at Stratford. By then, we knew we would be working at the Olympic Stadium in a team called Workforce Operations.
Amazingly, we both ended up in the same team and with the same shifts! We collected our uniforms and photo accreditation in mid-August, and then we were ready for action!
Our Workforce Operations team was based in a marquee beside the stadium. Our main duty involved sitting at a computer terminal scanning other workers’ accreditation and giving out meal vouchers and rewards – so we were very popular!
From time to time, Richard and I manned a Help Desk and took phone calls from other volunteers. To begin with, we didn’t know any of the answers, but our managers were usually on hand to help out, and we did learn a great deal about how others were deployed. We had very busy periods, as hundreds of volunteers and paid staff came through our ‘office’, but equally we had quiet times when we were given other tasks.
I took it upon myself to update our medal board each day with photos and details of the winners. But by far and away the most popular ‘extra’ job was to fill buckets with chocolates (Cadbury’s were one of the sponsors!) and take them out and about to other volunteers around (and in) the stadium. This gave us the chance to have tantalising glimpses of some of the athletics. There were some perks, over and above the pin badges and lovely relay baton we were given at the end. Sometimes, last minute seat-filling tickets for events became available, so we were very lucky to see the Opening Ceremony, an evening of athletics and an afternoon each of Wheelchair Rugby and 7-a-side Football.
With our accreditation, we were allowed into The Orbit at times when it was not busy, so we went up twice – at night, and on our last morning. The views from the top were spectacular.
Our team was small – just 35 of us – so we got to know many of the other volunteers, and we had great fun. It was such a privilege to be going into the park and experiencing the ‘buzz’ around the stadium each day. One day, Richard was especially lucky to have his name drawn from the hat for a tour of the Athletes’ Village – a wonderful experience – he was very impressed and came back with lots of stories and photos.
One downside was having to get up at 4:30 a.m. for three of our shifts – but it was amazing how, despite feeling cold and tired as we left home under a clear star-lit sky, we were energised by the other volunteers and the feelings of excitement at playing a very small part in such a wonderful summer of sport.
Overall, we had a thoroughly enjoyable time – and our team has vowed to meet up again when the Queen Elizabeth Park opens to the public in July 2013.
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014, Olympics in Rio 2016 – who knows – you might find us there!
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