The volunteers met each other for the first time and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) gave them an insight into what working at London 2012 will be like, including the sports, venues and roles.
As Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Games Maker Programme, McDonald's has used its expertise in delivering award-winning training schemes to help devise and deliver the three million pieces of environmentally friendly training materials to be used by the volunteers. A McDonald's employee also played a frontline role at the events, delivering customer service and hospitality advice to 10,000 volunteers at six orientation sessions.
Ahead of the first orientation event at Wembley Arena, Jez Langhorn, Vice President, People, McDonald's UK, said: "With the first orientation event getting underway it feels like the Games are nearly upon us. We've been working with the volunteering team to help plan and design the training materials that will prepare the volunteers for the challenge ahead, drawing on our experience in delivering great customer service and award-winning training programmes on a large scale.
"I'm sure the Games Makers will now be starting to think about their role this summer and at McDonald's we are going to be on hand to support them every step of the way. It's an exciting time to be part of the hospitality sector as we prepare to put the country on show to millions of visitors this summer and I'm proud of the role we will have played in making sure our volunteers are ready."
As part of its role as Presenting Partner, McDonald's is providing training staff, materials and facilities to help attract, select and train up to 70,000 volunteers needed for the Games. Last year 1,800 volunteer interviewers were trained at McDonald's training facilities in East Finchley, London.
From March to June this year, McDonald's will also host event leadership training for the 12,000 Games Makers who will be leading teams this summer on how to lead and get the best out of a newly formed team.
Each year McDonald's invests over £36 million in training its 87,500 workforce and in the past five years, the company has awarded 35,000 nationally-recognised qualifications from maths and English certificates to Foundation Degrees to its employees.
