Sue: Olympics Update
We blogged in December that Alltruck employee Sue has been selected as an Area Manager for the London Olympics.
So, we’ll be using our blog to follow Sue’s progress in this role throughout her Olympics adventure; getting behind the scenes information and opinions. In this blog Sue gives us the lowdown on her first day of training to be an Olympics Area Manager, which took place on Friday 19th January…
“Day 1 of training was a full day session held at London City Halls. The day started with a video message from none other than Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, welcoming us to the Olympics process. It was great to hear from Boris and it got everyone energised for the day ahead – hopefully we’ll get to meet him in person further down the line!
At this session, we found out what specific area we would be reponsible for during the Games – and my designated zone is Hyde Park, where I’ll be managing a team of about 20 volunteers. I was delighted to find out I’ll be based here because there is going to be lots going on in Hyde Park during the Games including a large screen and loads of entertainment, so it should be a fantastic atmospshere.
We then began to get into some of the more practical details of what will be required of us as Area Managers over the course of the Games such as managing our teams, co-ordinating with the emergency services and so-on. A lot of what we need to do will be presented to us in a info-pack which we will receive in the next couple of weeks – so I’ll be reading that a fair few times between now and the Olympics!!
A big part of our role will be motivating and leading the team of volunteers we will be managing, so a large portion of the day focussed on that. We were lucky enough to hear from Paralympic Gold Medallist Tim Prendergast - who gave us a really motivational talk on the importnace of perserverance and not giving up under adversity. Building on this, we ended the day by taking part in a number of group activities where we shared ideas on how we could best motivate and get the most from our teams in a number of challenging and unusal scenarios.
Overall the day was fantastic and has made me even more excited than I already was for my role at the Olympics – roll on July!!”
Sue’s next training session is in March – so check back to the blog then to hear more about her Olympic journey. And of course we’ll be following Sue’s progress throughout the summer once the Games begin.
I am delighted that Alltruck is supporting the Olympics and allowiwing Sue to be part of what I’m sure will be an incredible experience for her. I’m also pleased that you are letting her share that experience via the blog. However, will she be brave enough to post a picture wearing the Games Maker uniform?
I too have been accepted as a Volunteer and will have my first training day on 18th February at Wembley Arena. Unfortunately I will not be dancing at the Opening Ceremony, but based at Eton Dorney for the Rowing & Canoeing. I didn’t mention the Merlin Regatta!