London 2012 Games Makers boost confidence, skills and employability with national qualification - Announcement welcomed by Lord Coe

4 June 2013

Thousands of the London 2012 Games Makers who became the nation’s most popular and recognised volunteer workforce last summer have gained formal recognition of their hospitality and volunteering skills and boosted their employability by completing a nationally-recognised qualification created especially for them, it was announced today.

Almost 3,000 Games Makers – three times more than expected – have completed the Level 2 City & Guilds Award in the Principles of Customer Service. The qualification was created and funded by McDonald’s, Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Games Maker programme, as part of its support to help prepare and recognise the volunteers with unprecedented levels of quality training before, during and after the Games.

Whilst the qualification was originally designed for those Games Makers who would benefit most from a national qualification, such as those who were unemployed, many more people than anticipated have chosen to cement their achievements by completing the voluntary qualification. To gain the award, each Games Maker had to bolster their pre-Games training and hands-on volunteering experience with online learning and a test, sat at an accredited City & Guilds exam centre.

The Games Makers also reported that they are using their London 2012 experience and qualification as a route into jobs in hospitality, customer service and further community volunteering. According to a poll of more than 500 Games Makers who completed the qualification:

- Two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents signed up for the qualification in order to gain a qualification they could put on their CV

- Six in 10 (61 per cent) thought it would be valuable specifically because it is a nationally-recognised qualification

- Having completed the qualification, respondents found that it has helped them most by giving them new skills (42%) and improving their confidence (31%)

Welcoming the announcement, Lord Coe, Chairman of the British Olympic Association, said: "Last summer, the Games Makers showed Britain how the combination of high-quality training, a strong work ethic and a desire to do the best job possible can lift British hospitality to a world-class standard. Following their show-stealing performance during London 2012, it’s fantastic to see thousands of Games Makers going a step further and formalising their skills and experience with the national qualification that McDonald's created and funded especially for them.

"We selected McDonald's as our partner for the Games Maker programme because of its long-standing expertise in training and customer service. I'm delighted to see this partnership is helping to deliver a valuable and inspiring legacy from London 2012. The Games Makers were crucial to the success of London 2012 and I'm proud that many of them are now using their experience and qualification to open up opportunities in their careers, as well as in sport and volunteering."

Richard Forte, Chief Operations Officer, McDonald’s UK, said: "It was always our ambition to use our role as Presenting Partner for the Games Maker programme to deliver a lasting legacy that created opportunities for the volunteers themselves, raised hospitality standards in our own business and across the service sector as a whole.

"We’ve always believed in helping people fulfil their potential no matter what their background. It’s an approach that serves us well in our own business and it’s why the customer service qualification was focused on those people who could receive the greatest benefit from it. The number of Games Makers awarded the qualification far exceeds expectations, and it’s great to see such an appetite for learning and personal development."

As well as using the qualification to help individual Games Makers progress further, McDonald’s is also extending its support to the hospitality sector, as part of its contribution to the London 2012 skills legacy and its ongoing commitment to raising standards across the industry. McDonald’s has gifted the e-learning module developed to form part of the Games Maker qualification to hospitality Sector Skills Council, People 1st, so that employers of all sizes can use it in their own businesses and help raise standards even further. The online learning module is now available free of charge to 419,000 organisations across the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industry.

Sharon Glancy, Director, Training Division, People 1st commented: "The London 2012 Games were a great opportunity for the hospitality sector to shine and the Games Makers showed the world just how good British customer service can be. The online programme, used by McDonald’s, which will now be available to the wider sector, can help take advantage of the confidence boost the Olympics gave our industry – its crucial we now drive forward improvements in customer service standards across the hospitality and service sector."

Justin Davis Smith, Volunteering England Chief Executive said: "2012 really was the year of the volunteer. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games would not have happened without the efforts of the 70,000 Games Makers and it is fantastic that their work and their skills are being acknowledged with a nationally recognised qualification.

"Every year, over 20 million people across the UK volunteer, donating more than 100 million hours to their communities every week. But volunteering is also good for the volunteers themselves, as we can see from the Games Makers who have used their experience and the resulting qualification to go on and secure employment. This skills legacy is a great way to say ‘Thank You’ to the Games Makers."

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