Paralympics Day 4 - back in Orbit

It's 4:58am as I write this and I have 15 minutes to get dressed and head off for my next shift having had a luxurious 5 hours sleep so I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow.
Yesterday I was back at Orbit Circus like on Day 1, the difference being their were five times the number of people so that meant hundreds (I think I counted around 120+) of family groups that I took photos of against the backdrop of the stadium. There were hi-fives a plenty and we even did a game of 'London Bridge is falling down' with a family!
I was paired up with another great person, Raisa (pictured below), who was great fun and had come down from Manchester to serve. To make the time more fun we had little competitions with each other like to see who could give away their Olympic Park maps the quickest - never have people been provided with maps so rapidly!
I also got to have a shift on one of the lifegaurd chairs which give you a great view of the crowds and is an excellent way to interact with people - waving at them, having a little chat, dancing to the music (I showed all my disco moves, oh yes).
So for those who were wondering what team Orbit Circus is it is Red. So no winners of the bonus points.
It is now 5:12 must get dressed and go so you tomorrow (or later today!)

Paralympics Day 3 - Here come the crowds!

Day 3 at the Paralympics was the busiest yet and probably the busiest of the whole games. All the activities are running, and we expected well over 100,000 in the park.
The perfect day then to be rostered onto the busiest entrance point, Stratford Gate. From opening time at 7:30am through to the end of my shift at 3pm there were people coming through. Sometimes it was only a slow stream of maybe 1 or 2 people a minute through to the peak periods when we had between 15-25 people a minute. In the first fifteen minutes I scanned more tickets than I did in three hours at Victoria Gate yesterday.
Because we were solidly working from 7:30-11:30am we missed out on breakfast, so when we got to eat lunch it was consumed in seconds!
The best part of today was being paired with Stuart the guy I met on the first morning. We have a similar sense of humour and we get on like a house on fire. As in all things in life people are what make things special and in this regard and in his own words Stuart is "awesome".
I did have one complaint today though. Occassionally people would come through the security check think they were done and start striding into the park. We would have to stop them and scan their tickets, usually this was all fine. On one occassion a couple of women were rushing past us and as well as saying "Excuse me" I, with one finger, touched one of the women on the arm to attract her attention. She duely gave me her tickets and then said that I didn't have to push her to get her attention! I did the right thing and apologised for my action, scanned her tickets and wished her a great day. I probably scanned 500+ tickets so having one tetchy person out of over 500 is a pretty good ratio.
So where to tomorrow? I have been on green, red, yellow and blue teams with black, pink and orange still to try (I could get red as it isn't marked on my card even though I have done it). What colour do you think I will get? If you guess correctly then you will get big bonus points towards my paralympic souviner competition.

Paralympics Day 2 - Victoria Gate (the secret entrance)

Today the weather turned to clear sky, sunshine and a light cooling breeze - which meant it was a freezing start to Day 2 at our 6:30am briefing under the wing of the Aquatic Centre.
Today I was sent to the Olympic Park's secret entrance, Victoria Gate. This gate is hidden away (OK its on the map but...) on the east side of the park (or the bottom of the maps as they are printed) and sees less than 1% percent of the visitors to the park use this entrance. Apparently there is plenty of parking in the side streets and you can cycle right up to the gate and lock your bikes and walk in. If you are attending the games its worth considering using it as an entrance.
So having a quiet entrance meant a quiet day standing in the sunshine with my fellow Gamesmakers. We had a small perfectly formed team with a great team leader by the name of Phil. Never short of stories and jokes Phil (pictured right) was great fun and a great team leader. 
Today I got to use the scanner that checks people's tickets as they enter the park. We also had stints outside the gate to do some 'soft' ticket checks and answer questions which were mostly about how they could get tickets.

The biggest excitement of the day came when I helped two families get reunited with their tickets. In both cases there were two groups of people one with the tickets and the others without them and unfortunately they had each turned up to different gates. So I gave directions to the people with tickets on how to get to Victoria Gate from within the park and then we got the tickets handed over. Problem solved and smiles all round.

Paralympics day 1 - check your photos!

So day one is done (and so are my knees, lordy!)
The first of my early starts saw me rise at 5am to journey to Stratford checking in just after 6am.
As expected there was a degree of confusion, mainly because the vast majority of new volunteers were asking each other the same questions expecting immediate answers. Fortunately most things were straightened out and the general positive atmosphere kept people moving along and going with the flow.
We soon got split into teams and I was off to our first posting. In this first team I met Stuart (pictured right) from Wiltshire who also served in the Olympics so he was able to give me a few insider tips which was an excellent start and he was great fun to be with so early in the morning.
Unfortunately this posting only lasted about 30 minutes then plans changed and after another trek I ended up in the area known as Orbit Circus (covering the Stratford Gate, Orbit and Olympic Stadium) meeting and greeting people as they came into the Olympic Park from the Stratford/Westfield shopping centre side.
Later in the day I spent a long time with Susan (pictured left) who strangely kept wandering off standing still looking into the distance and the returning. Curious I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was trying to get into the background of as many peoples photographs as she could. So the photograph on the right is of her at distance (she is circled). Susan will be in 100s of peoples photo albums, just over their shoulder!
So that was my first nine hour shift, there is more to talk about - music, signs, food, questions from the public - but those will be for another day.

The blog is back!

Tomorrow I start my Paralympic adventure as I don my Gamesmaker uniform and join with a team of thousands to help 'make the games'.
This challenge has inspired me to pick up my blog again and so I invite you to follow my journey along with me as I share the ups, down, inspiration, challenges, tears and joy of being part of the greatest show on earth.
I will be tracking every comment, share, like etc on facebook, twitter and this blog and the person who gets most involved I will give them a souvenir of my time at the games! (Note - a comment on the blog is worth 3x one on facebook and 6x a fb like)

The first day of the rest of my life

Today the past has gone
The cloud has parted
The way is open
The vista is clear
Don't look back
In anger?
In regret?
Bring to mind Lot's wife
And the ruin that befell her life
As she looked back
No don't look back
Keep your eyes forward
Look there are enough bumps ahead to avoid
But for now enjoy the freedom
Enjoy the new wine
Walk ahead
Remember who you are
Be aware of what has happened, of how you got here
Look left and right
See those who are with you
They are with you
They are for you
Enjoy their presence
Give them yours
This is life
The first day of the rest of mine

Life is a rollercoaster

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The past few months life has been (and continues to be) a rollercoaster and this one has several loop the loops. It has one loop the loop called home, one called school, one called children, one called work, and several other mini twists and turns. And, to paraphrase Anthony Newley's musical.... "Stop the rollercoaster I want to get off!".

I am sure that what we are going through now will change us (it has already); it will bring us wisdom (to know ourselves more and to be more aware of what other want, do or need); and it will strengthen us (our current struggles help us prepare us for future trials).

Earlier this month I heard The Very Rev'd Dr Jeffrey John speak at St Michael's Church here in Bishops Stortford about the Resurrection. He compared Christ's resurrection to our own physical birth which is a form of death to our lives in the safety of the womb, indeed all through our lives there are times of death and acknowledgement of change. One might call the whole of our lives an ongoing resurrection, each little death brings life if we choose to see and live it. Or as Charlie Hall puts it in The Second Alive, "we come alive, when we lose our life".

If you are reading this - and know me and my family - the odds are that you are one of the many people that have encouraged, helped and supported me and my family through these last few difficult months and years. Thank you so much for your support, care, kind words and prayers.