Diary of a Medal Maker – Alexandra Barker

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Alex Barker

When I started at Loughborough University working on the Medal Makers programme I knew I was starting something special and momentous but little did I know exactly what was in store!

Walking around campus with the rest of the team and seeing all the first class sporting facilities really brought it home to me exactly where I was working. Loughborough University, to me, is synonymous with sport and I couldn’t think of a better place to work!

The first couple of months flew by in a flurry of policy and strategy writing and the start of the recruitment phase. The Preparation Camp was due to open on 18^th June and we needed our volunteers in place to start on that date!

The first task for us to undertake was to organise some volunteers to take part in the dress rehearsal of the Olympic Torch Relay! I was lucky enough to be nominated also and had the chance to run with the official Olympic Torch.

By May we had recruited most of the volunteers and we held the first of five briefing/training sessions, neatly timed for the start of the Olympic Torch Relay, carried for the first time by Ben Ainslie (one of my sporting greats).With tears in my eyes I welcomed the first batch of volunteers and thanked them for coming.

Once the volunteers were briefed and we only had 4 weeks to do our final preparations it was all hands on deck to get people into roles and locations ready for day one…..and somehow we managed it!

Day one of Preparation Camp brought its own challenges with more volunteers needed for certain roles and less for others. It was a juggling act all the way through with the need for volunteers changing on a regular basis but all roles were filled and no job was left undone.

The 3^rd July was another great day as that was the day that the official Olympic Torch Relay came through campus, again! This time I was able to enjoy the spectacle as the torch passed by and I saw the torch ‘kiss’ outside the Sir Denis Rooke Building. The Relay was preceded by a fun and colourful carnival marking the relay as it passed through the East Midlands.

That week proved to be pretty special as not only did we have the Olympic Torch, but I was lucky enough to meet Princess Anne, Sir Steve Redgrave and to be present at David Cameron’s address regarding legacy.

The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games marked another key event for the Medal Makers with a party and the opening of the Beckwith Clubhouse. The Medal Makers and I had worked really hard to turn a lecture theatre into an inviting clubhouse for people to kick back, relax and watch the Games.

The clubhouse proved to be a massive success with a full house on many an occasion. Staff and volunteers watched and cheered for Team GB as they won most of their 65 medals.

On the 6^th August Preparation Camp finished. The Team GB branding was all taken down and their presence here on campus became a memory….or did it?

Work had already started to commemorate the Olympics in the form of a participatory arts project outside the Sports Development Centre building to serve as a permanent reminder of the impact that the Olympics has had on Loughborough University and its staff, students and volunteers.

I know that my Olympic odyssey was truly over when we held the final thank you and farewell party for the Medal Makers on 15^th August. With genuine tears of joy and sadness I made my goodbyes to my new friends and vowed to meet them all again on our next volunteering adventure.

I have truly loved my time here at Loughborough. Through the many highs and lows that I have worked through I have learnt that I am resilient and tough and can face adversity face on. I am cheerful and diligent and work with tenacity to achieve great things. I will miss the people that I have met along the way and thank each and everyone of them.

#InspireAGeneration

Life in a Day of Preparation Camp!

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Alex Barker

Life in a Day of the Preparation Camp

The Official Preparation Camp Headquarters for Team GB opened for ‘business’ on Monday 18th June.

This first day of Preparation Camp was in fact one of the busiest! The first athletes to pass through the Camp were the rowers.

Since then we have seen (nearly) all 541 athletes selected for Team GB come to Loughborough University to collect their kit, do media interviews and receive gifts from their sponsors.

And a lucky 19 teams even stayed here at Loughborough to train! With Medal Makers supporting them all the way.

We have had VIPs, Governmental, sporting legends and royalty come to visit us at Preparation Camp creating as much of a stir as the athletes themselves!

Team GB have very much felt like part of the family and the ubiquitous red trainers marked the Team GB and BOA staff, athletes and volunteers from miles away. Leaving looks of envy on people’s faces as they passed!

Not as envious as when people saw the Medal makers T-shirts however. The purple T-shirts of the Medal Makers have certainly left their mark and have been a useful tool in identifying Medal Maker volunteers from a distance!

The Medal Makers created quite a stir on the Olympic Torch Relay day when the sea of pink was the closing image of many of the news bulletins on the eve of the 3^rd July.

The Camp was dismantled on the 6th August and all those who have been involved in the Preparation Camp are very sad to see Team GB leave campus.

However the Olympic fever continued with the opening of the Beckwith Clubhouse which has screened much of the Games live on its three screens.

All in all there were:

64 days of Preparation Camp;
541 Team GB athletes;
342 Medal Makers
11,642 volunteering hours.

The Medal Makers Programme

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Alex Barker

Medal Makers Volunteer Programme

Loughborough University was confirmed as the venue for the Official Preparation Camp Headquarters for Team GB and from then work started to create a unique volunteer programme to support both the University and Team GB over the summer of 2012.

The Medal Makers volunteering programme was designed, and implemented, to deliver the exceptional support needed for the training camps, kitting out, and other special events and ceremonies.

Nearly 400 volunteers were recruited to support Loughborough University to deliver the outstanding service expected for Team GB, the British Olympic Association, athletes and staff at Loughborough University at the Preparation Camp.

Medal Makers volunteers worked in all of the different areas in the Preparation Camp; from kitting out each Team GB athletes in their official Team GB kit, supporting the Team GB media team, participating in the BOA London 2012 museum archives and providing the security and venue assistance for the individual training venues.

Medal Makers have supported in all aspects of VIP visits to the Preparation Camp from managing the car parking to actually escorting the delegations.

The volunteers have also been instrumental in ensuring the delivering of the communications strategy and worked in all areas of hospitality, including doing the Team GB laundry!

Volunteers have also been involved in some very exciting events, such as the Olympic Torch Relay, LIA, the LEAP athletics event, the Loughborough Football and rugby teams inaugural matches on the new Loughborough Stadium. This activity will stand them in good stead in their future volunteering endeavours.

Legacy and continuation of their volunteering has been woven throughout the programme and we have worked in partnership with Leicestershire and Rutland sport and in particular linking with their volunteering programme, Sport Makers.

Medal Makers volunteers have clocked up an impressive 11,642 hours of volunteering over the 64 days of the Preparation Camp. Some volunteers working well into the night to achieve their goals.

Volunteers ranged in age from 16 to 84 and from all walks of life from HE students to retired solicitors, sports stars of the future to those who simply wanted to ‘give something back to society’.

Some volunteers came from Leicestershire and the rest of the East Midlands, but others came from London, Surrey, Devon and some came from oversees, for example the international students who delayed their return back home just to be involved in the Olympics in whatever way they could.

Some Medal Makers volunteers were also Games Makers based in the Olympic venues and have been wearing their Medal Maker uniform, when not on Games Maker duty, with pride!

The Medal Makers volunteers have epitomised the Olympic values: respect, friendship and excellence. They have had respect for each other, Team GB and the job in hand; they have been excellent at every activity that they participated in and they have made long and lasting friendships!

Team GB training

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Alex Barker

Loughborough University and the Medal Makers were thrilled to be able to support so many of Team GB and their training needs.

All in all there were 19 teams training here; starting with Basketball on the 21st June and finishing on Monday 6th August when the Taekwondo team dismantled the Taekwondo square and left to go to the Olympic Village.

The Medal Makers acted as security of the venues ensuring that no-one without the correct accreditation pass as allowed in (or in the case of the Basketball Players below a certain height!). In addition they supported the teams by getting them what they needed including a brush (and a vacuum cleaner to clean the brush), a sharp knife, ice for ice baths and superglue!

Olympic Clubhouse Launch

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Alex Barker

To celebrate the impact that Loughborough University has had upon the Team GB athletes and to thank the Medal Makers volunteers for all their hard work a special event was organised for the Opening Ceremony.

The Sir John Beckwith lecture theatre was set up an Olympic Clubhouse and a Hog Roast was organised.

there were games organised for family and friends and a fantastic night was had by all.

A Medal Maker’s Torch Day Diary – Janet Stevenson

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Alex Barker

It was an early start at 7.00am but the lecture hall in the Edward Herbert Building was a sea of pink as, in spite of the cold drizzle all 325 volunteers were wearing their pink T-shirts.

After briefing we set off to our various locations. David (my husband) and I were in Sector 15 which was the University Stadium. Quite a long walk on this vast campus but interesting to see how cord marking had been set up along the route to mark public access. By Elvyn Richards Hall there were cleverly stacked straw bales for sitting and standing on. We saw some Chinese students standing on top and waving union jacks while being photographed by friends. Should make interesting viewing back home!

Once in sight of the stadium volunteers were posted along the route. The stadium was the venue for school parties and the children were in a high state of excitement eagerly accepting the university flags, band-sticks and leaflets which we were handing out.

The teachers, police and paramedics were all in good humour and the atmosphere was fun. The drizzle had stopped and the sun came out briefly.

We were given the job of ‘holding the gate’ so only those with wrist bands, official kit, such as the GB Volley Ball team, their coaches, the aspiring athletes and coaches, hoping for a place in Rio in 2016, and a list of official guests were allowed in. If guests didn’t have official ID we were to put a blue pen cross on their hands which caused some laughs.

The advance carnival parade came down the hill and into the stadium, past the flashing balloon flame and through the gate we were ‘guarding’, which gave us real close up views of their fantastic costumes.

Then the real star of our section arrived, Audrey Cooper with her torch ready for its ‘kiss’. She is the coach for the Team GB’s Women’s volleyball team and comes from East Leake. The whole team had come in full kit to support her – and we had let them in!!

One of the Medal Makers volunteers had the exciting task of holding the ‘Torches Kiss Here’ banner and being right up close to the transfer of the flame. The flame runner for the previous stage came down the hill carried into the stadium by Johnathan Eley a winter Olympics speed skating world record holder to meet the array of cameras.

Audrey then started her run and proceeded out of our gate and down to Sir Denis Rooke building.

We stayed to see the children leave safely, then made our way back up campus where a variety of other activities were getting underway.

We had a fantastic day and were sorry to leave at the end.

Medal Makers help the Ambition Group

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Alex Barker

Again the Medal Makers have stepped up to the challenge and done an incredible job supporting the Ambition kitting out process.

The Ambition Programme is looking toward the future athletes that are likely to represent Team GB at Rio in 2016. The programme is looking to getting these future Olympians ready and prepared so that when the time comes they are fully equipped to deal with the stress and strain of an Olympic games – the Kitting Out process, as we are fully aware, is vital to their experience

Preparation Camp Opens!

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Alex Barker

The Preparation Camp officially opened on Monday 18th June with most of the Team GB rowing team coming through Sir Denis Rooke to receive their kit from the sponsors and partners.

Medal Makers Amelia Tan and Lucy Kettlewell directing athletes to Sir Dennis Rooke where they will recieve their kit.

In this first week we have seen athletes from Sailing, Triathlon, Track Cycling, Handball and Basketball.

1st week of prep camp

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Alex Barker

At the end of the first week for Team GB Preparation Camps and what a week it has been. There have been a lot of last minute changes placed on the volunteers but all have ‘gone with the flow’ and risen to the challenge. All the volunteers have been so adaptable to these changes.

The BOA and other partners have been astounded by both the standard and commitment of Medal Makers and have asked that this be fed this back to all of the volunteers.
The first teams have also been training – the Women’s Basketball Team were the first team to start their training programme as part of the Preparation Camp.