HELPERS HARBOUR BIGGEST SECRET
The 15,000 Games volunteers have received the ultimate reward – invites to the dress rehearsals of the opening and closing ceremonies – and organisers have faith they won’t spoil it for others, writes Dwayne Grant
BABIN Joy will soon harbour an incredibly big secret – and Commonwealth Games bosses have no doubt he’s got the ability to keep it.
“At the end of the day you need to have faith in people and we have faith in our volunteers,” GOLDOC chief executive Mark Peters said of granting thousands of his “greatest assets” an exclusive preview of the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies days before the real deals come to life.
“It’s been done at other Games and what we say to the volunteers is ‘This is a fantastic opportunity for you to see what is going to be very special but don’t spoil it for everyone else’.
“That’s the honour code of volunteers … and we’ve got no doubt that people will abide by it.”
Mr Joy is one of the 47,000 people who put up their hands to donate their time, energy and personalities to the Games experience. More importantly, he’s one of the 15,000 or so who made the final cut.
In recent days, he and a handful of other volunteers paid a visit to the newly minted Uniform and Accreditation Centre (UAC) at Burleigh to watch Games Minister Kate Jones officially open the site – and unexpectedly invite them to the ceremony dress rehearsals.
“We’ve done a very good job of keeping (the ceremony content) tight-lipped but we think this is a great way … to provide this great reward to our volunteers,” the Minister said.
“There will be a practice of the opening and closing ceremonies on March 31 and April 2 and we will be inviting the volunteers to participate and be the first audience … to see the first glimpse of the ceremonies.”
Such volunteer previews are nothing new at Olympic and Commonwealth games. However, what has changed from Sydney 2000 is almost every one who ventures to Metricon Stadium with a golden ticket will also have a phone-sized video camera in their pocket.
“We can’t control everything … but we are confident they’re going to have a fabulous time and not spoil it for others,” Mr Peters said.
“We don’t think we’re going to get footage (of the rehearsal) being sent around the world ... volunteers are here because they’re fantastic people.”
That they are, with Mr Joy a prime example. Now 25, he made the move from India to study on the Gold Coast several years and, having stayed on to work in Griffith University’s international marketing team, will give up his time to help make his adopted city’s biggest-ever event a success.
YOU NEED TO HAVE FAITH IN PEOPLE AND WE HAVE FAITH IN OUR VOLUNTEERS GOLDOC CHIEF EXECUTIVE MARK PETERS
“This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I thought I shouldn’t miss it,” the Labrador resident said as he explored the centre that will process and kit out Games volunteers, staff and contractors.
The size of that centre is another reminder of the massive scale of the Games.
In the lead-up to April, a team of 50 volunteers and Games employees will distribute more than 200,000 individual pieces of uniform to a combined 50,000 volunteers, staff and contractors.
Of those, the 15,000 volunteers will complete 130,000 shifts totalling about 1 million hours of service and even ever-optimistic Games chairman Peter Beattie is a realist when it comes to what lies ahead.
“When you’ve got an event as big as this, something will go wrong,” he said.
“(But) we’ve had an ongoing consultation program with volunteers. We’ll get their feedback. If things need to be changed, they will be changed.
“The volunteers are the centre of the Games. Without the brilliant volunteers, it wouldn’t happen.”