How to volunteer for London 2012

Where will you be in exactly 2 years time?

If you’re planning on living in London in 2012, then it can’t have escaped your notice that the Olympics will be opening on July 27th, 2012.

There are many ways to get involved in 2012 – you can already register to be notified when the tickets come on sale, by signing up at London 2012 .

We have also been promised 4 live sites at Hyde Park, Victoria, Park, Jubilee Gardens and Potters Fields where large screens will be set up for members of the public to attend with a free ticket. You can also watch events such as the Marathon, Hyde Park triathlon and road cycling for free as they’ll be taking place in Central London.

But what should I do if I want to be more than a spectator, but don’t have the time to become a world-class athlete in time for the Olympics?

The answer of course is to become a VOLUNTEER .

Ok, so in order to become a volunteer at London 2012, you need to sign up to one of two schemes:

• Locog’s Games Makers
• City Hall’s London Ambassadors

Locog are recruiting around 70,000 volunteer games makers for their 31 different teams. Examples of their teams are ‘Media, Editorial and Press Operations’, ‘Protocol and International Relations’, ‘Transport’, ‘Torch and Ceremonies’, ‘Sport, Medical and Anti-Doping’, ‘Competition Venues and Olympic Villages’ and ‘Technology’. Some of the teams require as few as 50 games makers (volunteers) whereas other teams require several thousand volunteers.
The upside to becoming a Locog volunteer is that you’ll get free meals, free transport and the opportunity to be involved in the biggest sporting event that London has seen in years. It probably won’t look bad on your C.V either.
The downside involved in being a games maker, is that due to the huge scale operation that Locog are undertaking, they will require their games makers to be extremely flexible. You’ll probably have to set aside around 10 working days to be involved in 2012. You’ll also be unable to change your shifts (not good if they want you to work at the same time as an event that you have tickets for) and won’t be able to request that you work with friends or family if they’ve also signed up.
To get involved with Locog as a games maker, applications are open from September 15th.
All volunteers must be over 18 by New Year’s Day on 2012, but a separate programme for 1,500 volunteers will also be introduced for under-18s.

City Hall have a much smaller programme going on. They’re looking for around 8,000 volunteers to be London Ambassadors.
The Ambassador programme requires people with an enthusiasm for London to be the ‘face of London’ assisting as guides at airports, rail stations and other tourist hubs.
As an ambassador, you can expect to be fully trained, receive a uniform (which you can keep), get free transport within zones 1-6, free meals up to the value of GBP 5.00.
Applications are being accepted as of today at London Ambassadors .
The minimum age for becoming a London Ambassador is 16.