With the Winter Olympics well underway in Sochi, we can look back with pride at what was achieved at the London 2012 Games.

One of the outstanding successes of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was the use of the 70,000 committed and enthusiastic volunteers - the "Games Makers" - who really did make the Games happen. No athlete gets to represent their country at a Games without a volunteer helping them along the way.

What lessons can the Sochi volunteers learn from them? According to Jenny Hicklin, the "Accidental Volunteer" who was based at the Velodrome in London and is now working at the transport hub in Sochi, the 50 or so London Games Makers out there will bring a lot of confidence, experience, knowledge and friendliness to the operation. This friendliness in turn is reciprocated by the Russian volunteers.

No doubt we would all like to volunteer at an Olympic and Paralympic Games or a major sporting championship. Sadly, this is not always going to be possible.

One of the outstanding successes of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was the use of the 70,000 committed and enthusiastic volunteers ©Getty Images


But this doesn't mean that you can't volunteer locally. Community sports clubs are crying out for help, and there are many ways you can get involved. Join In is the volunteering charity created out of the 2012 Games. It has launched a recruitment drive, spearheaded by our Patron Eddie Izzard, to attract a nationwide network of coordinators to help grassroots sports clubs grow local sports participation. With seven out of ten sports clubs saying they need more volunteers to help them grow, Join In is rolling out its Local Leaders programme nationwide.

This scheme will see up to 250 volunteers becoming Local Leaders and using their knowledge and contacts to help Join In build lasting relationships between local sports clubs, community groups and potential volunteers.

"Accidental Volunteer" Jenny Hicklin with Sochi 2014 bronze medal winning snowboarder Jenny Jones ©Join In


Much has been said about sports participation and how we can get more people playing sport, but it has always been my view that one of the missing links to unlocking this is increasing the number of people who help out at local clubs. Our Local Leader recruitment campaign is something we trialled last year and will help us deliver our aim of recruiting and retaining 100,000 volunteers in community sport across the United Kingdom.

An extra pair of hands at a club can make a huge difference. The ripple effect of this will lead to clubs and their memberships expanding and more people getting active in their local community. If we can achieve this, it will be a lasting legacy of the 2012 Games.

Dave Moorcroft is Join In's director of sport. Find out more here.