Well up early for the Orientation training at Wembley Arena yesterday. Slight change of plan when I missed my first bus and had to hot foot it back home to get the car out and drive up to the train station. Only just managed to get on the train on time for the trip to Wembley.
The event coincided with the Big Brother interviews.......which one should I go to??!
Now I've not been to London for a long time (1990) and this was all going to be new to me. Thankfully all the trains hit their timetables and I landed nice and early at Wembley Stadium Station. I chanced to meet with 2 prospective Gamesmakers, Francis and Farnaz from Belfast and East Ham respectively. It just shows how committed the Gamesmakers are, people I spoke to came from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Hereford, Worcester and the Home Counties. Respect to all you folks who travelled in from afar.
Spent some time walking around the impressive Wembley Stadium. Strewth it was chilly and windy. This is one hell of a stadium and an excellent facility for sport. Spent a little time with Sir Bobby Moore. It's a bit mad that the flag is not fluttering in this pic as the breeze was blowing folks over.
Being as I had arrived a little early, it gave me time to meet other like minded fools (you are all loonies by the way) grab a brew from the catering van and ponder on what we were going to do.
At around 13:30, we were let in to the Wembley Arena. The queue snaked through very quickly thanks to the efficiency of the Arena staff. I grabbed the opportunity to buy a bit of olympic merchandise and grab a slack handfull of the choccies that were made available to us.
The Arena filled up quite quickly and soon we met our presenter. John Inverdale was the main host, and very good he was too, even managed to get a Fenton/Benton joke in. He was joined by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson (11 times Paralympic gold medallist) on stage. She looked stunned by the whole experience as thousands welcomed her to the Arena. Funnily she span around taking pics of all us lot! I sent her a tweet @Tanni_GT , and was pleased to see she replied to me, saying how amazed she was by the reception she had as she came onto centre stage. What an inspiration that lady is to all Olympians and volunteers.
Here is what the packed Wembley Arena looked like with 2 minutes to go to the start of the training....
We were given the chance to see what the volunteer uniform would look like in the flesh. The colours will take a bit of getting used too - we will stand out! At least they look practical and some additional thought has gone into the Olympic/Paralympic logos which is pretty nifty.
We all received a workbook which is where we will record and review our training, with the additional CD and a section to save our memories.
My memories of this event are how committed every one is to make the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics the best ever, from the volunteers to past and present athletes and celebrities alike.
Bring on round 2 of the training!!
Regards, Ian.
The event coincided with the Big Brother interviews.......which one should I go to??!
Now I've not been to London for a long time (1990) and this was all going to be new to me. Thankfully all the trains hit their timetables and I landed nice and early at Wembley Stadium Station. I chanced to meet with 2 prospective Gamesmakers, Francis and Farnaz from Belfast and East Ham respectively. It just shows how committed the Gamesmakers are, people I spoke to came from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Hereford, Worcester and the Home Counties. Respect to all you folks who travelled in from afar.
At around 13:30, we were let in to the Wembley Arena. The queue snaked through very quickly thanks to the efficiency of the Arena staff. I grabbed the opportunity to buy a bit of olympic merchandise and grab a slack handfull of the choccies that were made available to us.
The Arena filled up quite quickly and soon we met our presenter. John Inverdale was the main host, and very good he was too, even managed to get a Fenton/Benton joke in. He was joined by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson (11 times Paralympic gold medallist) on stage. She looked stunned by the whole experience as thousands welcomed her to the Arena. Funnily she span around taking pics of all us lot! I sent her a tweet @Tanni_GT , and was pleased to see she replied to me, saying how amazed she was by the reception she had as she came onto centre stage. What an inspiration that lady is to all Olympians and volunteers.
Here is what the packed Wembley Arena looked like with 2 minutes to go to the start of the training....
We all received a workbook which is where we will record and review our training, with the additional CD and a section to save our memories.
My memories of this event are how committed every one is to make the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics the best ever, from the volunteers to past and present athletes and celebrities alike.
Bring on round 2 of the training!!
Regards, Ian.
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