Record details

Name

Mary

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Story

Edinburgh to Birmingham via Gold Coast

Volunteering at the Commonwealth Games 2014, 2018 & 2022

I have been a volunteer at Leamington Cycling & Athletics Club for a number of years, and during this time I have been to a number of major athletics meetings in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

In 2013 I applied to be a volunteer at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and after an interview, I was selected to be a “Clydesider” for the 2014 Games. As a Clydesider, I worked in the Athletics Stadium in Post Event Control, which involved ensuring the Athletes had everything they needed after their event. As a volunteer, it is quite normal not to see any of the events, but that is not why any of us do it; we just love being part of an amazing event.

After a great experience in Glasgow, I decided to apply for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018, again this involved an interview but this time over the internet due to the distance. I believe approximately 1,000 of the volunteers were selected from the UK across all the sports, a total of 45,000 applications were received and 15,000 were selected.

This time we were called “Games Shaper” and had brightly coloured uniforms, compared with the Red and Grey for Glasgow, which I still wear. My role this time was in the Technical Information Centre (TIC), very similar to a Tourist Information Centre. Team Managers, Coaches etc came to ask all sorts of questions, including bus times, where to obtain that day's schedule of events, tickets for coaches to watch their athletes. I had a number of shifts in the Athletes Village as well as the Stadium. 

As a volunteer in Glasgow and on the Gold Coast, the travel from my host family to the venues was free when I presented my accreditation, but my travel to Glasgow and the Gold Coast was my responsibility, plus finding my own accommodation. I was extremely lucky to be offered accommodation by Local Host Families, and I am still friends with them. I would be happy to offer accommodation to anyone volunteering in Warwick or Leamington.

To complete the story, I have volunteered for Birmingham this year and will find out whether I have been successful and will be able to complete my hat-trick of Games in 2022.