Movehut’s Katie Staff was a volunteer at the London Paralympics. Here is her personal account of her first day as a Games Maker.
When putting my uniform on for my first shift, I felt like it was my first day at high school. Realisation hit that I was one of the 70,000 that got through to the making the Games Happen. I can truly say I wore my uniform with pride and I am extremely proud to be British.
Using my free oyster card; one of the many perks of being a Games Maker, I boarded the tube to my destination; the Olympic Park. The excitement and nerves started to kick in. What was I going to be doing, who would I be working with? The tube was awash with both Games Makers and spectators, all ready to catch a glimpse of some Paralympic history.
I watch the crowds of people making their way to their venue with excitement on their faces. This is my time to make a difference and ensure that these spectators enjoy their time here at the Olympic Village.
I arrive at the venue that I have been assigned to for the next two weeks. The copper box or should I say the box that rocks!
The venue was designed and constructed with sustainability as a priority. Among its many state-of-the-art features, the roof of the Copper Box is fitted with 88 light pipes that allow natural light into the venue, reducing the demand for electric lights. In the long run, this will achieve yearly energy savings of up to 40%.
The top half of the venue is covered in 3,000 square metres of external copper cladding, most of which was recycled, to give it a unique appearance that will develop a rich natural colour as it ages.
Building work began in July 2009 and it was the third competition venue on the Olympic Park to be completed in May 2011.
Both Handball and the Modern Pentathlon took place here during the Olympics and now it’s the turn of Goal Ball to take to the stage. Goal Ball is a team sport intended for blind athletes, originally invented in 1946 by German Sepp Reindle and Austrian Hans Lorenzen as a means to support the rehabilitation of visually impaired World War II veterans. The International Blind Sports Federation, the governing body for the sport is responsible for fifteen sports for the blind and partially sighted.
I check in at the workforce area and find out what is in store for me today. I am on the front line-making sure spectators are in the correct lanes to enter the venue and have their tickets ready for scanning.
Lunch time soon comes around; I enter the workforce area once again and hear the noise of people chatting away, all with different stories to tell of their time at the copper box. I sit down next to a group of volunteers and we share our individual journeys of becoming Games Makers. A common thought we all share is that you forget you are a volunteer and feel that this is your normal day to day job.
My next task of the day involves showing people to their seats. There are so many people here, of all ages with different cultural backgrounds, yet all sharing the same interest of seeing Goal Ball at its finest. The venue is full to capacity and everyone is waiting patiently for the first game of Goal ball to begin. Goal Ball is a silent sport, when the ball is in play; spectators have to be absolutely silent, it is like hearing a pin drop. Once either team scores a goal, the crowd can make as much noise as they want.
The day is drawing to and end and I am about to finish my first eight hour shift as a Games Maker. I have met so many new people and carried out various tasks throughout the day. It’s time to make my way home with my new found Games Maker friends. I reflect on my first day working at the Paralympics on my journey home. What a great experience and I can’t wait for it to happen all over again in the morning!
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