When London was preparing to host the 2012 Olympic Games, 250,000 people signed up to volunteer as official “Games Makers”. Of these, 70,000 people were ultimately selected to wear the distinctive purple-and-red volunteer uniforms. For 40% of them, it was the first time they’d done anything like this.
In the run-up to the Games, Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, highlighted how important this kind of community engagement was. “Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Olympic Games,” he said. “The 1948 Olympics in London saw the birth of the Games volunteer programme, and we are determined that London 2012 will be a wonderful opportunity for tens of thousands of people to help deliver the most spectacular Games ever.”
From the beginning, the idea was not only to get people involved in the event but to inspire them to keep volunteering well beyond the 16 days of the Games themselves. Further, this engagement was seen to be a strategic means of getting people into full-time, paid employment.
