Commonwealth Games volunteers hope to recapture London Olympics glory

The Commonwealth Games team hopes to emulate the success of London's Games Makers, seen here performing Mo Farah?s trademark ?Mobot?. Photograph: Reuters

While much of the rest of the country was enjoying London's Olympic party last summer, Phil Evans watched the Games from his home in Lichfield with a certain pang.

A year earlier he had been offered a place as a volunteer Games Maker, working in the team that organised the medal ceremonies in the Aquatic Centre. But because of the demands of his university course in his final year, he was forced to pull out. "I wasn't exactly feeling bitter and angry, but it was hard to watch at times. I just wanted to be involved," says Evans. "So I thought, I've got to give it a go in Glasgow 2014."

He was far from alone. Buoyed by the remarkable success of the Games Maker programme in London, the team planning the Commonwealth Games in the Scottish city next year has seen a surge of interest in voluntary roles, with 50,000 people registering their interest in becoming a "Games Time Volunteer", even before official applications open on Monday.

While the majority of those, almost 60%, are from Scotland, applications have come from the other home nations and as far afield as Australia, North America, India and Kenya, according to Valerie Mitchell, Glasgow 2014's head of games workforce. But with only 15,000 vacancies to fill, compared with the 70,000 roles on offer in London, competition is intense.

Mitchell says the Olympics factor is not the only reason for the numbers registering their interest. "I have to say that being in Scotland, Glasgow people and Scottish people love to get behind things that Scotland does. So I can't say I'm surprised at the levels of interest we've had."

Daisy Cooper, who works for an international volunteering charity in London, registered her interest only last week, and confessed to being excited at the possibility of taking part. "It didn't occur to me at all to apply for the Olympics, but I absolutely loved them, and was so inspired by the Games Makers. For me, they really created the atmosphere of the Games."

It was her partner who spotted the advert for Glasgow volunteers, and they have both signed up to take part. "I think it's about being part of something international that you can be really part of, not only the event but your country," she says.

Having worked closely with Locog before and during the Olympics, Mitchell says she is fortunate to be able to emulate their successes while doing some things differently. The application form and training process will owe much to the procedures followed by Locog, for instance, but where London volunteers' formal connections ended with the conclusion of the Games, the Glasgow team is working with an organisation on co-ordinating volunteering in Scotland to build a legacy. "London did, perhaps, miss a trick with that," she says

"Without our volunteers, there's no question that we won't be able to operate the way we have to," says Mitchell, who will also be in charge of all staff and contractor jobs during the 11-day Games, which open on 23 July next year. "They will be absolutely essential to making the Games happen, so we have to get this right."

Applications close at the end of February, with interviews concluded by the end of the year and training of the successful candidates beginning in March 2014. As for "the question everybody is interested in" ? the volunteers' uniform ? that won't be revealed until a few months before the Games, says Mitchell.

Her team is working on its requirements, and promises that workers labouring in a Glasgow summer will be given one key garment not offered to London's volunteers: a zip-up fleece. "But we do have sun cream, too, just in case there is brilliant sunshine. We have to think of everything."

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/14/commonwealth-games-volunteers-london-olympics

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