I arrived at Wembley Arena at 8.00am on a cold February day, it was a cool minus 2! This did not dampen my spirits or those of fellow volunteers. Whilst waiting in anticipation for the doors to open I noticed Seb Coe doing the rounds, along with a film crew. Just hope they got my best side on camera :) I entered the arena and could sense the excitement and buzz from all around. I made my way to the allocated seating.
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| Volunteers taking their seats inside Wembley Arena |
It soon became apparent, from the number of volunteers, approx 10,000, the mammoth size of the operation! The atmosphere inside the arena was electric, everyone sat waiting for the MC to start. Jonathan Edwards, former British triple jumper came running onto the stage, whilst 'Simply the Best' by Tina Turner was being played in the background - at this point the entire arena erupted! Everyone was on their feet, clapping and cheering like you would not believe!
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| MC Jonathan Edwards in action |
Once Jonathan had managed to calm us all down, it took a while, Jonathan spoke and was extremely passionate about being there and about the impending games. He talked through his own experiences about being an athlete and what it meant to him. Jonathan then outlined what we would expect from the morning and introduced the first guest, Eddie Izzard.
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| Eddie Izzard - giving his motivational speech! |
Eddie was great, he gave a fantastic motivational speech about why we should embrace the whole experience of being a volunteer and being part of the greatest show on earth. There will be approx 70,000 volunteers at the games, wow, only a small number here today then! Once Eddie had finished he handed back to Jonathan who introduced the next guest - Lord Seb Coe.
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| Lord Sebastian Coe |
Lord Coe gave an extremely inspirational speech and recognised the fact that the games would almost be impossible to stage without the help from volunteers. He seemed more excited than any of the volunteers and was like a child in a sweat shop, unable to stand still for a second on the stage!!! It was clear to see what this meant to him. He handed back to Jonathan Edwards, who introduced what we had all been waiting for, the highly fashionable volunteer uniforms.
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| Volunteer from Glasgow showing off the uniform |
Once we had viewed the uniforms it was time to meet the final presenter, Huw Edwards. He interviewed several prominent Olympic organisers, all have such mammoth tasks on their shoulders and I wouldn't want to be in their shoes! They explained what was left to do before the opening ceremony, it was great to hear they were all on target.
This drew to an end an emotionally charged but exhausting morning. It became apparent the importance of what being a volunteer will entail. There was only one thing left to do, help myself to some chocs, provided by one of the sponsors, Cadbury's and make my way over to Stratford for the Olympic Park orientation!
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| Cadbury's olympic chocolate bars! |
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