From April to August this year I was lucky enough to have been part of the London 2012
Olympic Games. I was employed at the Excel Arena in London’s Docklands, which was
the venue for no less than seven Olympic events – Boxing, Fencing, Weightlifting,
Wrestling, Judo, Taekwondo and Table Tennis. The Excel was one of four Fleet Depots
in London to serve the transportation needs of officials from over 200 countries
comprising the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the National Olympic
Committees. It was the first time in Olympic history that a venue for some of the Games
was simultaneously used as a Fleet Depot.
My job was to be a Dispatcher, which meant I had to know all about the cars, the
parking systems, the paperwork, the dispatch procedures, the radio communications
and the Olympic Route Network (ORN) system. This was a dedicated system of roads
designed to be kept free of traffic during the Games, for the sole use of Olympic officials
getting to their venues. The ORN was incorporated into the BMW satellite navigation
system, but was never to work completely satisfactorily for the drivers. However the
drivers fulfilled their objectives by using the manual input of Post Codes as well as a
back-up A-Z map.
All the cars in the fleet were new BMW diesel saloons, mostly Series 3, or Series 5 for
the top officials. There were also electric-powered vehicles, Wheelchair Adapted
vehicles, MPV’s and minibuses, plus a few motorbikes. They were driven up to Excel
from their import depot at Dartford, and stored in the huge underground parking system.
In April, after a 2 week induction period, I joined about 60 colleagues starting at the
Excel depot. My colleagues were from all over London, of different ages, backgrounds
and life experiences, but we all (or most of us) shared the same goals – to deliver a
well-organised and professional service, and not to let London down in the eyes of the
world by poor performance and organization. I quickly made friends with many
colleagues, as that is my preferred method of working in a team.
We had to undergo intensive training and familiarization with our roles, as well as build
up the Depot as a suitable reception area for the volunteer drivers who were going to be
based here for the Games. We painted and decorated, put up posters and banners,
installed TV’s and catering facilities. We built up our team through team work and
exercises and various friendly competitions. Our managers, who had mostly been
trained in the Military, were very good at team building and ‘Events Management’. We
were taught the importance of being punctual and communicating any problems to
management as soon as possible. Anyone who did not adhere to these rules was asked
to leave.We attended 2-day training sessions for the drivers every weekend, where we explained
the features and controls of the cars, the Radiocommunications, the SatNav system,
the paperwork and checklists needed for recording mileage, fuel, cleaning, and any
damage noted. During all this time we got to know the drivers very well and made
friends with many of them. Our managers kept repeating the point that the drivers were
all volunteers whereas we were paid staff, so we had to treat our drivers carefully, with
respect and politeness so that they would wish to return again. Occasionally we got
frustrated with some drivers who did not seem to understand simple instructions or
driving and parking techniques, but these incidents were very few, and on the whole, we
established good working relationships with them. One day a driver came back with a
worried look on his face. It turned out that he had gone to wash the car at an automatic
car wash at a BP station but had left the back window open so that the rear seat had
become completely sodden! Our Vehicle Services Team manager thought this was
rather funny when compared to the more usual and serious problems of bumps, dents
scrapes, or wrongly fuelled cars. We soon had the car dried and ready to go!
One of the most memorable things about participating in the Games was the
tremendous spirit of goodwill showed by everyone in London – from travelers on the
Underground system, policemen and City workers, to officials, security guards, the
Army and visitors and spectators from overseas – all were smiling and joking and in
excellent spirits. To this has to be added the contribution of the Games Makers, the vast
army of volunteers in their distinctive purple and crimson uniform (which I also wore),
who were always helpful, friendly, and polite and did so much to enhance the reputation
of Britain abroad.
I traveled across London by tube from Earls Court to the Excel Arena and back every
day and saw many happy visitors and spectators, smiling and having a good time. This
was very gratifying.
When the Olympic Games began on 27 July the Dispatcher’s roles changed from being
largely based outside in the car park to being based in the office, as they had to learn to
‘Scan-in’ and ‘Scan-Out’ drivers coming on shift, or finishing their shift. This gave us
extra skills of customer service at the scanning-in points – we had to learn to work
quickly and keep calm under pressure, as we had to deal with drivers’ complaints or
problems and make sure a long queue did not build up.
This experience was the fulfilment of a lifetime’s dream, and I will never forget it. It was hard work but I am proud to have been part of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
C. Tim Taylor 2012