Thousands volunteer for London 2012

More than 8, 000 disabled people have applied to volunteer at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Although the figure is only about three per cent of the total number of applicants, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) said it was “very pleased” with how many disabled people had put their names forward.

The number of disabled applicants for the volunteering programme was obtained from LOCOG by Disability News Service.

In all, more than 240,000 people have applied to volunteer at the games, with LOCOG now starting to short-list the “best of the best”. Interviews and selection will take place over the next year.

LOCOG said that most of those who have applied asked to volunteer at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A LOCOG spokeswoman added: “We’re thrilled with the response we’ve had to date from disabled people, with thousands having submitted their application.

“We’re committed to making sure disabled people are a key part of the volunteering programme and we’re confident that our communications campaign reached diverse community sectors, giving everyone the opportunity to apply.”

LOCOG gave disabled people who wanted to volunteer an extra two months to apply, after taking advice from disability organisations and volunteering teams from previous games.

6 January 2011