London Games calls for volunteers

The two-year countdown to the London 2012 Olympics has started, and

"smiling, happy, welcoming faces" are invited to help at the Games.

 

Two volunteer schemes are now open for applications - 70,000 Games Makers will be needed at the main sites and beyond to help the event run smoothly, along with 8,000 London Ambassadors to welcome visitors to the city.

In a video released yesterday, Mayor Boris Johnson called on Londoners to support the Games by

helping Olympic tourists "find what they need, whether it's a

cashpoint, the British Museum, the bike hire scheme, the live sites where they can watch the Olympic Games, and help them of course to find their way to the Games themselves."

LOCOG

are also in search of a large number of both general and specialist

volunteers to help keep the Olympic competition sites and Olympic

Village running smoothly. "As a London 2012 Games Maker you will be one

of the faces of London 2012," says LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe, "with the

chance to play an integral role at the heart of the largest event ever

staged in the UK."

Volunteers can find out more and sign up at the London Ambassadors and London2012 websites.

Are you gearing up for the Olympics, or getting ready to leave town for the summer of 2012? Let us know below!