To give an overview, approximately 31,000 volunteers worked during the period of the games - some 11,000 worked in the host town programmes which operated around the country and some 20,000 were volunteers during the games, mainly in the Dublin area and also in Belfast. Some 1,000 volunteers were on a waiting list in case they were required and we were oversubscribed by 5,000. It was a 32-county recruitment process. There were also 540 international volunteers, who mainly came from EU countries in a process associated with the EU. There were also some full-time volunteers who gave their services free for about two years leading up to the games.
A programme organised with employers, the employer assisted volunteer programme, saw employers asked to give some free time to their employees to enable them to volunteer during the games. If the employee took X amount of time, employers were asked to give a matching amount. This programme was very successful because it gave us continuity in terms of time availability of volunteers and also in terms of the dates on which they could volunteer.
Another interesting aspect of the volunteer programme was the mentoring programme for people with learning disabilities who would have been athletes in the Special Olympics programme in Ireland but would not have qualified for the games. We offered them the opportunity, together with a mentor, to become involved as volunteers during the games. They were given additional training through the mentors and this programme was also very successful.
Since the games, some 7,000 of the 31,000 volunteers have said they wish to remain involved with the Special Olympics programme, a high percentage and certainly higher than Special Olympics Ireland would ever have experienced previously. Before the games, Special Olympics Ireland had approximately 1,000 volunteers involved in the programme. The huge interest which has now been generated is the legacy of the Special Olympics World Games. Under data protection legislation we are not allowed to publicise the list of volunteers to other organisations. However, when the games were over we wrote to the 31,000 volunteers to thank them for their efforts and to send them certificates of appreciation and indicated that there were, perhaps, organisations and agencies, including Special Olympics Ireland, which would like to avail of their services. We asked the volunteers to let us know if they were interested and they had then to complete another form for us. We are now just about to start the process of retraining such volunteers because the required training is slightly different from that for the world games.
We have set up a network around the country of community groups which were involved in hosting families in the Dublin area, the host town programme or as general volunteers at the games. The groups are being asked to form into committees, each of which will link itself with a community, town or area and will seek out people with learning disabilities not currently involved in the Special Olympics Ireland programme with a view to offering them the opportunity to become involved through the setting up of clubs in response to their needs. There are 22 Special Olympics sports and whatever sports people wish to become involved with, clubs will facilitate their needs within towns and areas, if there is demand. Our aim, objective and vision is that an opportunity will be provided at local level for any person with a learning disability who wishes to become involved in the Special Olympics programme over the next four years.
There are approximately 35,000 people with learning disabilities in Ireland, North and South. Of those, some 8,000 are involved with Special Olympics Ireland. We want to increase that number so that more are given an opportunity to participate, and this will be done through the network programme and through the use of the volunteers interested in staying involved in the post-games period.
That sums up the current position. Another important matter to arise out the world games was that many of the 31,000 volunteers had never before volunteered in any capacity. For many who had, this was the first time they were asked to participate in a training programme, which they said was important. While volunteers are an in-kind resource, a cost is involved in their training. For us, the cost worked out at approximately €25 per volunteer, which provided uniforms and training but excluded the cost of staff time, which also had to be paid for in terms of training, etc.
There was a drop-off rate of 20% before and a minimal drop-off rate during the games. The most important points in making volunteering work were: to ask, which seems a simple thing; to provide adequate training and give clear job descriptions, which was undertaken for every volunteer who worked with us; and to recognise the volunteers in various ways. They were not looking for financial recognition but the provision of the certificate, the newsletter, Heartbeat - Be at the Heart of the Games, which we distributed to volunteers and which they found to be a fantastic way of getting updates on the games, or simple thanks and to be told that we valued their contribution.
We were also in the fortunate position of being able to leave a lasting physical legacy at Dublin Castle, in the form of the logo sculpture and the surrounding benches on which we were able to place the names of every volunteer. This is a lasting legacy for families who can visit to see their names on the benches and it received very positive feedback from volunteers.
