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I've always said that the volunteers I have met at past Olympics have been some of the most interesting people you could ever talk to.
They often do rather boring and tiring jobs just to be part of the Games. And they do it with a smile.
I know thousands and thousands of people have already said they are interested in being what they are calling "Games Makers" in 2012. From today, thousands more will be signing up.
But I'm worried that the scheme is not really going to be for the less privileged in our society, some of whom would benefit the most from such a rewarding role. And I also don't think it is going to be for the whole country.
BBC London interviewed youngsters in Derby the other day. They are keen volunteers already but they haven't got the money to pay for accommodation during the Games. There's no free accommodation for volunteers during 2012 so how are they going to be able to be part of the scheme?
Not everybody has a friend or relative in London with a bed free in the summer of 2012.
I know when I was growing up in Coventry in the 1970s that I wouldn't have known anybody who could have helped me in London if the Games hadn't been then. And neither would many of my friends.
2012 are doing nothing about this. I'm not saying taxpayers' cash should be spent on accommodation. But I do believe the Olympic sponsors should step up to the mark and pay for some student rooms for volunteers from outside of London.
How about McDonald's sponsoring volunteers from the North East of England? Lloyds Bank paying for youngsters from Wales? (I know, that would be a bit of public cash!) BT backing volunteers from the Midlands?
Surely this would be great publicity? And it would also mean the London Olympics are for the whole of the UK, not just London and the south-east.
2012 keep telling us they want a Games for Britain. Now is the time to prove it.
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