Black Country volunteer Jane Beach, joined the Chair of LOCOG Seb Coe, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Volunteering Ambassadors Dance Group Diversity, CBeebies Presenter Cerrie Burnell and sporting star Sally Gunnell to mark the opening of the London 2012 Volunteer Programme which seeks to recruit up to 70,000 volunteers or ‘London 2012 Games Makers’.
Pre-identified people wanting to become a London 2012 Games Maker, can apply for specialist positions such as doctors, anti-doping personnel and scoreboard operators from today.
Representing the West Midlands, Jane joined 30 volunteers from around the UK to launch the Volunteer Programme and celebrate two years to go at St Pancras International station demonstrating the kinds of roles volunteers will undertake in 2012.
Those interested in the more numerous general volunteering positions can go to www.london2012.com/volunteering and find everything they need to help them decide if they have what it takes to be a London 2012 Games Maker. Applications for the more numerous generalist roles which include ticket checking, uniform distributors and staffing helpdesks and information points, will open on 15 September 2010. The programme’s Presenting Partner is McDonald’s.
Jane Beach volunteers at Kewford Eagles Football Club, a supported ability football club that has 50 team members ranging in ages 7 - 29 years. Jane gives up an average of 5 hours a week organising things at the club, doing secretarial work and as a second mum to the players. The players, children and adults, train weekly and play at Aston Villa once a month in the Birmingham Ability Counts League as well as playing regular friendly matches with other groups.
Jane said: “Volunteering began for me when I was looking for something for my own disabled son to participate in and I continue volunteering as I want to put something back into the club. It was incredibly exciting to be part of the launch in London and demonstrate how easy it is to volunteer and get involved”
To find out how you could start volunteering right now in the West Midlands visit www.wmfor2012.com/volunteering.