Picking up my Games Maker Uniform!

Tuesday 26th July had been penned down in my diary for weeks, and I was counting down the days until I visited London again, even if only for a day. Once again, it was an early start, leaving the house at 4.45am, and arriving at Belfast International Airport 40 minutes later. My parents drove me down, however this was my first time ever going anywhere on my own. I said my goodbyes, excitedly jumped out of the car, and made my way to security. Once I got through security, I went to boarding, and ten minutes later we were in the air. The flight only lasted about an hour and we were there quicker than expected. Once we arrived, I got off the plane, and got the train into Victoria Station in Central London, and from there I went to Fulham Broadway. I walked down the street, and to my left was Stamford Bridge! It was around half nine when I got there, so I had a quick walk around the museum, and then I proceeded to the Stadium Tour. I was brought right around the stadium, to each stand, the player's home and away dressing rooms, the dugout, and the press room (as shown in the picture above with my Manchester United scarf). It was a great tour and an amazing stadium!

Once I had finished at Chelsea, I walked back to the Station and made my way to West Ham. I got off at the station, and walked across the road to the UDAC centre to collect my uniform. When I went in, I was checked for ID, and proceeded to collect my accreditation. Once this was finished, I continued to the fitting rooms, tried on my uniform and carried on. Once I was in the queue to collect my uniform, one of the staff told me and a few dozen other games makers that there would be a special guest coming to present our uniforms. While we were waiting, another member of staff brought in the Olympic Torch and let us have pictures with it. So after waiting around fifteen minutes, two-time Olympic Champion Lord Sebastian Coe, and Prime Minister David Cameron walked into the room to thunderous applause. They both stopped and chatted to me, asking me where I was from and congradulated me on becoming a Games Maker. They then went behind the desks where the uniforms were being handed out, and began giving Games Makers their kit! As I approached Seb Coe, one of my sporting inspirations may I add, I was becoming extremely nervous! He gave me the first part of my uniform, chatting to me also, and said, 'It is people like you who inspire me'. What a moment!!

Moving on down the queue, I came up to David Cameron, who seemed delighted to be there, and he presented me with another part of my uniform. After I had collected all of my uniform, a few journalists asked me a few questions, and subsequently I was mentioned in an article online on the Daily Telegraph website!

Once I had finished all of this, I made my way back to West Ham station, and off to Arsenal I went. I got off at Highbury and Islington station, and walked to the Emirates Stadium from there, having lunch on the way. I arrived at the stadium, and went on a self-tour, visiting the home and away changing rooms, director's box, the tunnel, the interview rooms and the dugouts. The Emirates was also a beautiful stadium! After I finished there, I got the train back to Central London, and then to Gatwick, where I waited for an hour or so to get my flight. I flew home, and arrived in Belfast at 9pm, and my parents picked me up after a successful, but exhausting day! I'm off to London again on the 15th for training in Wembley Arena, and again I will keep you all up to date! Thanks again for reading my blog, hope you enjoyed!

                                                                                                                                                                   

Games Maker Role-Specific Training!

Hello again guys! Just updating my blog again as I had my role-specific training for the Olympics two days ago, Tuesday 15th May! It was a great day, even if I had to get up at 4am. I had never been on a plane before, and I had never been out of the country before, so I was extremely nervous on the plane! My mum and dad came with me to make sure I was able to go on my own the next time.
So we started off, and got up at 4am on Tuesday morning, very early start. We had some breakfast, and made sure we had everything we needed, and then we got on the road at 4.45am. We drove to Belfast International Airport and arrived around thirty minutes later. I had never been in an airport before either, and I was amazed by the surroundings. It was only 5.30am and the airport was full of people! So my dad had already printed our boarding passes and checked us in online so we went straight to the security. We all got through fine, and then went to the departure lounge. We had a cup of tea, and went to board the plane. It took quite a while, as we were at the back of the queue, but we got on the plane and got our seats. We couldn't find three together so I sat with mum and my dad sat behind. The plane was about the take off, and I just sat back and closed my eyes! It was so scary, but once we got in the air, I was fine. The flight lasted about an hour and we arrived at Gatwick airport. It was buzzing. Thousands of people at that time of the morning? Wow. So we went to the shuttle train that took us to the next terminal, and we then got the Gatwick Express train into Victoria Station. From there we took the underground to Highbury and Islington, and then the overground to Hoxton. We got off at Hoxton, and went to Hackney Community College, just around the corner. Mum and Dad left me off, then they went off for a day in London!! (Jealous)! I went into the college, got checked in, and was brought to the room where my training was. There was approximately another thirty people, not one other person from Ireland! The day started by getting an official Games Maker workbook, detailing all I needed to know about my role, what I was expected to do, and how I should do it. We were shown presentations about our roles in the Events Services Team, with jobs such as stewarding, checking tickets and showing people to their seats. We were told about what way our shifts would work, about our breaks and how our teams would be assembled. We had a break at around 11am, having tea and biscuits. When we arrived back, we were given more information about our roles, and we did a number of exercises to help us get to know our roles. As well as this, we got to do an exercise with the radios that we will be using at Games time. Then we went off for lunch! I gave my mum and dad a quick call to see how they were, and they told me they were at Buckingham Palace and had been on the London Eye, (even more jealous)!! When we came back from lunch, we did a few more exercises, before the session ended early! Was a great training day at Hackney Community College! Once we had finished, my mum and dad met me at Hoxford Station. We travelled back to Victoria Station and got the train back to Gatwick. Our flight was at 9.25pm, but we arrived just after 5pm, and we were able to get on an earlier flight home :). Overall, it was a great day, even though I was exhausted when I got home. Now, I just have to collect my uniform, and go to venue-training, and then its the real thing! London 2012 is just around the corner! Again, thanks for visiting my blog and I will continue to keep you updated with all my progress! :)

The moment I became a Games Maker

Hi guys! Thanks for visiting my blog! As most of you know, I am going to be one of the 70,000 Games Makers at London 2012, and I am based at Wembley Arena! I applied to be a Games Maker in 2010, not knowing what was ahead of me. I applied more out of hope than expectation, and by the start of 2012, I had not heard anything. I was resigned to the fact that this may not be happening, and then in Febuary I received an email saying that I was invited for a phone interview! My interview took place on 22nd March of this year. It went really well and I was told that I would be informed of a decision within three weeks. Then, on the 13th of April I got the email that I had been chosen as a Games Maker!!! The email read,

Dear Mairéad, Congratulations!

Following your interview to be a London 2012 Games Maker, we are delighted to inform you that we would like to offer you a role in the Event Services team at the Olympic Games!

After receiving this email, I was asked to accept my role, which, of course I did straight away, and my role was to work at Wembley Arena as part of the Events Services Team. As you can imagine I am absolutely delighted with this, and I will keep you updated on what is happening in the near future with regards to my training! Thanks you for reading my blog! :) Mairéad.