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Calling all sports fans! If you’d like to be part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Volunteer Programme is the ideal method to get involved. Helping out at London 2012 gives you the chance to get closer to your sporting heroes, enrich your local community and encounter the excitement of the Olympic Games in London direct. Who can volunteer for London 2012? Around 70,000 volunteers are needed to help the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games run well. Volunteers from a range of communities and backgrounds will be recruited and trained to the best standards for London 2012. Previous helping out experience isn’t necessary to be a London 2012 Olympic Volunteer, but applicants must: * Be 18 or above by 1 January 2012 * Commit to at least ten days’ volunteering at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games * Go to at the least three London 2012 volunteer training sessions * Be eligible to volunteer in the UK * Pass security background investigations Volunteering tasks throughout London 2012. London 2012 helpers will be given specific roles, relating to their skills and training. There will be two kinds of volunteers; specialist and generalist. Specialist volunteers will need existing skills or qualifications, for example sport or medical training. Generalist volunteers will not have to have any skills or qualifications, other than the appropriate London 2012 Volunteer training. They may be given tasks in sections like: * Event services * Uniform distribution * Olympic Village operations How to become a London 2012 Olympic Volunteer: Applications to become a London 2012 Olympic Volunteer will open this coming year, but you can register your interest now. Subscribe on the official London 2012 website to add your name on the volunteering list and get frequent email updates about the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Helping out before London 2012. If you reside in one of the East London Host Boroughs near to the Olympic Park, you could be part of a pre-London 2012 volunteering program called Changing Places. Changing Places has been built to aid local communities prepare their area for London 2012, and aims to: * Motivate local people to enhance public areas such as parks and open spaces * Help people to learn new hobbies and skills * Improve the quality of the local environment for the London 2012 Olympic Games and beyond Alternatively, if you have office-based abilities you may want to apply to become a Trailblazer Volunteer. This entails aiding the London 2012 Organising Committee to prepare for the Olympic and Paralympic Games by working one day per week in their London office. Volunteering following London 2012. It’s hoped that long after the Olympic Games have ended, the London 2012 Volunteer legacy will go on. This is an exciting chance to be part of a wide-reaching volunteering network, improving the lives of local communities all over the UK. Discover a lot more concerning the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games