The Olympic Legacy: Volunteering

Looking back to those sixteen wonderful days so much was achieved however if it hadn't been for the 70,000 volunteers, known as Games Makers, who kept things ticking over smoothly the Olympic experience would have been very different.

When the call went out over 200,000 people volunteered their services to help at the games which is a phenomenal response for just 70,000 vacancies.

As I travelled up to town myself on the train to watch the games there were several Games Makers in the carriage with me wearing their distinctive uniforms.

The young, old and people of all ages volunteered which just shows how well the community spirit of helping out is distributed through the generations in our community.

On my lunchtime walks around Wycombe town centre I quite often see notices in the charity shop windows asking for volunteer helpers to tun the shop.

I wonder if the charity shops receive such a tremendous response in their call for volunteers as the Olympics did?

If yours truly had known just how good the Olympics were going to be I too would have volunteered my services indeed to be right up there on the field of play with the competitors must have been quite an experience.

Arriving for their shifts in some cases as early at 5.30am and giving up their holidays from work the Games Makers really did make a commitment to their volunteering activities.

Think of the rewards in terms of personal development for such dedication, indeed those who gave their services will proudly be able to embellish their CV's with the fact they were a 2012 Games Maker thus helping to get a job.

But what are the volunteers doing now?

I know the Paralympics are coming up soon but after they are over it seems such a shame that the well organised band of helpers will just disperse all over the country and nothing more will be heard of them.

The 2012 volunteers have show that giving your time to a worthy cause is indeed a noble thing to do.

Nowadays volunteers are everywhere from the Olympics to manning the checkout desk at the local community libraries. They are becoming the backbone of many of the services on which we depend.

Don't forget there are also volunteer police officers and volunteer firemen who perhaps one day may save your life.

Perhaps volunteering is the latest cool thing to do after all our society seems to becoming ever more dependant on voluntary help to function.

In the past I have also given my time to help others on a voluntary basis and found the experience most rewarding and satisfying.

Maybe if more people became volunteers and gave a little back to their community the world would be a far better place?

I just hope that volunteering isn't seen as a substitute for closing public services and replacing employed people with free labour.

What do you think?

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