Shropshire Council staff ready to play their part at London 2012
Five Shropshire Council staff members will be amongst thousands of volunteers heading to London in the coming days to play a vital role in ensuring the success of the London 2012 Olympics.
Steve Murphy, eCommunications officer, who is from Market Drayton, will be working as a volunteer on the Modern Pentathlon event at both the Aquatics Centre and Greenwich Park venues.
Steve said:
“I’ve been volunteering for many years and the thought of being involved with the Olympics is incredibly exciting. My wife and I will start our shifts on 8 August, leading up to the main competition days on 11 and 12 August.
“Additional excitement for our family is the fact that my wife’s nephew Nick Woodbridge, who is ranked 5th in the world, will be competing in the Pentathalon and the thought of him running into the Greenwich stadium in front of 21,000 cheering supporters and possibly in medal contention, really does give you goose bumps.”
Garry King, trainee auditor, from Shrewsbury, will be one of the events team in the Basketball Arena where his main duties will be ticket processing and crowd control.
Garry said:
“My shifts start on 28 July and goes through to 10 August, helping in the basketball event for the first week and handball in the second. This involves working to nearly 1am in the morning the first week, and 6.30am starts in the second week.
“Wearing the rather loud uniforms is something to look forward to on my first shift – and we get to keep them afterwards, though I’m not sure what state they will be in after two weeks!
“The only downside is that a stay in a hotel in London was going to cost in excess of £7,000, so I have had to opt for the cheaper option of a youth hostel in King’s Cross!”
Jane Archdeacon, library assistant at Whitchurch Library, will be working in the Event Services team at the Water Polo venue.
Jane said:
“I will be meeting and greeting guests and athletes, checking tickets and generally helping people to get the most from the event. Water Polo takes place over two weeks so I will be working about 10 shifts.”
Sarah Bromley, adult & community learning manager, from Shrewsbury, will be working as a T2 driver, based at Park Lane, which means she will be driving the Olympic officials to and from the various venues.
Sarah said:
“It is the opportunity of a lifetime to be involved in London 2012. The training has been amazing, I have met lots of really interesting people. To be able to drive the new BMW series 5 is a chance that I never expected to have. I am really excited about meeting the officials that I will be responsible for, and of course the challenge of driving them around my native city is really not to be missed.”
Jono Richardson, from Maesbury, works at Shropshire Council’s Oswestry Leisure Centre. He’ll be working as a lifeguard in the London 2012 Aquatics Centre from 18 July through to 8 August.
Jono said:
“It has been awesome being selected to be a lifeguard. I am really looking forward to being at the Olympics. I have been a competitive swimmer with Oswestry Otters and Team Captain of Chirk Dragons, where I became involved with the Swim Wales Millennium Young Volunteers Programme, which was my opportunity to get involved with the Olympics as a volunteer. To be part of the Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I could not miss.”
Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for active and healthy lifestyles, said:
“London 2012 simply couldn’t happen without the help of the many thousands of volunteers – it’s brilliant that a number of Shropshire Council staff, and Shropshire residents, will be amongst them. I hope they all have a fantastic time and enjoy what promises to be a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime, experience.”
