Written question asked by Baroness Coussins (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 15 December 2011.

Olympic Games 2012

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in recruiting volunteers for the 2012 Olympic Games who have foreign language skills, and how they will be deployed.

Answer: Volunteer recruitment is a matter for the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG), a private company operating independent of government, responsible for staging the Games. LOCOG has informed the department that it has received 240,000 applications and is now interviewing 100,000 of these at ExCeL and other Games maker selection centres across the UK. Interviews continue from February this year through until March 2012, so that LOCOG secures the up to 70,000 Games makers that it requires next summer. The first offers have now been made. LOCOG is recruiting some 850 specialist interpreter volunteers across both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Between them, these Games makers will be proficient in around 30 languages and will be deployed primarily at competition venues dealing with language demands on the spot. As well as these specialists, around 3,000 of LOCOG's other Games makers have some level of skill in a foreign language and will be deployed to roles where those skills can best be used, such as National Olympic Committee assistants working with overseas teams or dignitary assistants working with visiting Sports Ministers.

Secondary information