An Olympic Games in your home city is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and wanting to preserve memories and/or collect some mementos is a pretty natural thing. For months leading up to the Games, I was being bombarded by emails encouraging me to spend surprising large amounts of cash on depressingly poor London 2012 goods. Somehow the whole ‘branding’ associated with London 2012 has seriously disappointed me. In particular, the design of the logo seems to defy every logical requirement of a logo, i.e. simple, memorable, distinctive, etc. In the end it was only its familiarity that seems to mean anything. Most of the other stuff was just overpriced tat – I bought nothing.
I didn’t care for the Team GB kit – it seemed to make GB competitors difficult to spot in their events, and in the football tournament it was just dull. Probably what happens when you give the job to a fashion designer, rather than someone who understands sport.
The GamesMaker Uniform
Nearly every GamesMaker despaired of the epaulettes on the shirt, and in all honesty, the modern, breathable material might have wicked away moisture, but managed to comprehensively retain the odour. The Jacket’s were appalling; thankfully, the temperatures were high enough to be able to travel without the need to wear one, and my cap remains in pristine condition – unworn! The trainers, however, proved to be quite comfortable and durable. On leaving the Stadium one evening, I was offered £400 for mine, by an American guy who had already acquired a GamesMaker Jacket. Sadly it would have been a long journey home in bare feet, but in any case, they were the wrong size.
GamesMakerMemorabilia
As ‘official’ mementos, we get to keep our uniforms – please let me know if you ever spot anyone wearing it in public J – well, the trainers are OK! We also get to keep our accreditation passes.
Each GamesMaker received a sequence of gifts when they checked in for their shifts. The first was a Journal (a bit like a W.H.Smiths’ diary)– somewhere to keep an account of your experiences, contacts, etc. I never saw anyone using it! There were four other gifts, each a pin badge of identical design. The first was multi-coloured, then the next three were, in sequence, bronze, silver and gold. Sadly, in my opinion, each of the gifts (journal and pin badges) carried the McDonalds’ logo, as prominently as the London 2012 logo. I guess I just feel that my volunteering was on behalf of the IOC and LOCOG, not of their fast food sponsor.
However, there was one more gift for each GamesMaker – a London 2012 Relay Baton (regulation size and weight), made from anodised aluminium, and accompanied by certificates from LOCOG and the IOC, and a pin badge from the IOC.
The Wembley Technology Team volunteers each 
received a Technology Team pin badge, and as the longest serving volunteer of the team, I was given another, different (gold) Technology Team pin badge.
I now have a lot of pin badges 🙂
Most of this memorabilia, but not mine, is available on eBay at quite reasonable prices.