London 2012 Olympics: Unsung and unpaid heroes helped make it all happen

LONDON 2012 has been a marathon not just for some of the runners but also for the 70,000 volunteers who have helped make it all happen.

They are the unsung – and unpaid – heroes and heroines who will take home priceless memories. Contributing eight million hours of voluntary work behind the scenes, without them the Games would not have been possible.

With relentless enthusiasm and energy Thomas Smith, 23, from Southampton, is typical of the “Games Makers”. Having just finished his final exams in mechanical engineering at Bath University and with a job lined up, instead of taking a well-earned rest he was 
giving up his last summer holiday before his working life begins to be part of London 2012.

More than 240,000 applied to volunteer, with 86,000 interviewed before the final selection. With 8.8 million tickets for sale to watch 10,490 athletes across 26 sports and with another 5,770 team officials, roles for the Games Makers spanned everything from welcome desk staff to ticket checkers to drivers and event stewards.

Sarah Collyer, 46, and Ranjana Patel, 58, were on ticketing duties at the Olympic Stadium.

Mrs Patel, a mother-of-three from Esher, Surrey, said: “I do some other voluntary work and I just wanted to be here and be part of it all.”