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Catching Up With Lorraine : Volunteer at the Commonwealth Games
28/07/2022 00:00, I Mewn Blog / Track & Field / Commonwealth Games /
Once the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony has taken place tonight, the 2022 Games will be open and 11 days of epic competition will begin. With all eyes on the athletes, it is easy to sometimes forget the vitally important role that volunteers play in ensuring the smooth running of not just the competition, but all the behind the scenes action as well.
We caught up with Lorraine last month as she was preparing to volunteer at the Games after being named as a ‘Technical Team Member’ and with just days to go until she puts all her practice into action, we checked in on how things were going.
Since we last spoke to Lorraine, she has collected her uniform for the games, which will allow her to be recognisable as a volunteer and highlight the important role in which she is playing. Alongside her uniform, she has been provided with her accreditation which will enable her to get into all the special areas which allow her to carry out her roles. When they say you can get up and close to the action, they really mean it, with trackside locations being accessible once accredited.
Earlier in the week, Lorraine attended the stadium for venue specific training which included a tour around the area in which she will be based. She said
“This was rather exciting as the opening ceremony preparations were underway in the background”.
During the week she was also informed that she was just one of just 25 volunteers out of the thousands who applied to be allocated the role of “technology team member”. Well done Lorraine!
Looking ahead to the Games, Lorraine says
“One of my shifts is for the marathon (4:15am start for me). I will be based on one of the 5k check points to capture the passing athletes times. Hopefully I’ll see the Welsh Athletics supporters area to give you guys a wave. The remaining shifts will be in the stadium either on the field of play, within the tech room (supporting the control of what digital information is transferred to the screens within the stadium and peoples homes globally) or within the athletes call room area to distribute/attach transponders to athletes”.
We would like to wish Lorraine good luck and say thank you to her and all the volunteers at the Games for helping to make it possible for them to go ahead.
If you want to know more about volunteering and what roles you can get involved in, click here.