As a lover of all sports, and after seeing the amazing work by the volunteers of London 2012, I knew I had to get involved in the Commonwealth Games. I sent off my application form well over a year ago.
After finding out over 6 months ago that I was successful and would be working as a volunteer at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games as a CGAA (Commonwealth Games Association Assistant), I was absolutely over the moon and beyond excited. Although the games don’t start until the 23rd July, a lot has been going on in preparation.
My role as a CGAA involves working with all the teams and team officials, including the Chef De Mission for each team. I ensure that everything is running smoothly for each team and they have everything they require. Training started back in March with orientation and as May came, I took on Role Specific training where I met follow volunteers whom I would be working with. In June, I came up for one final time (for Venue training) where I had a tour of the village and all it had to offer – it’s more than just houses. There’s a main dining hall, gymnasium, physio facilities, and an international zone which includes a bar, shop, phone store, hair dressers and dry cleaners.
I travelled up on Monday in preparation for my 6.30AM shift on the Tuesday. Setting the alarm for 5.00AM was painful but after struggling to get up, I grabbed a coffee on the way to the Village where I am based for the majority of my time. After passing through airport security, I had to check in and met more of my fellow volunteers where we were given more freebies (always a good thing). We were informed that several teams would be checking in over the next few days before athletes arrive. We all took the chance to explore the village and get our bearings, as these take a while.
Each country has a section and offices. England have decorated their area with a red floor and Scotland have put images of their athletes up around their section. As well as the large countries, there are also smaller countries involved in the games such as Lesotho. So when delivering laptops and phones to their team official, I got the opportunity to ask them about who was coming and they informed me that they had only 27 athletes coming who would be taking part in sports such as athletics, swimming and boxing.
With athletes not arriving in the village until next week, it’s very quiet. Much of my job is preparation for when they do arrive. For example the National Youth Theatre has been practicing for the Welcoming Ceremonies – which each team receives when they arrive into the village. The teams who have already checked in have also had deliveries of equipment and medical supplies ready for when the Games kick off. My time has been spent unloading these moving them to various places. Wales had a large delivery including some red trees to help with the decoration.
Aside from what is going on in the village and the work I have been doing, the atmosphere among the volunteer team is fantastic. There are many jokes being made and everyone wanting to help out constantly. This has been shown when unfortunately many volunteers lost accommodation and other volunteers instantly jumped to their aid, helping find accommodation and offering places to stay. The team of volunteers at this games is without doubt going to match that of London, you can walk up to anyone in a uniform and ask what their role is and what they have been doing and receive a warm friendly smile.
With two days off before the 6.30AM shifts start again, it’s time to explore the city where the atmosphere for the games is building and head to Hampton Park on Friday to watch the Athletics Grand Prix. I think I’ll also get some kip with more teams arriving the work load is surely going to expand and only get more hectic.