Elio, volunteer from the Moulin de L’Auro
‘Go for it – you won’t experience this every day!’
That’s Elio’s advice to anyone thinking of following his example of volunteering.
Elio, who lives in Le Moulin de l’Auro community in Gordes, was one of the 83 members of L’Arche who grabbed the chance to spend 5 days helping out at this summer’s Olympic Games in France.
It wasn’t a difficult decision- what’s not to like about volunteering?
The benefits are enormous: making new friends… having fun… teamwork… an enhanced sense of purpose through making a difference… enabling others to fulfil their dreams…
This surely explains why surveys show a consistent link between volunteering and happiness and mental well-being.
Helping others turns out to be a very effective way of helping oneself as well.
Elio’s own opportunity this summer brought all of those benefits. But there was something more for him and others from L’Arche.
Volunteering was not just about passive inclusion but the dignity of active responsibility. These Olympic Games were the first to really throw open the door to volunteers with intellectual disabilities. Even though volunteers had always been a vital part of a successful Olympics, this wonderful opportunity had not been generally available to men and women with intellectual disabilities.
But the 2024 Olympic Games was different. For these games, the Organising Committee realised they had to find a way to make full inclusion work. This meant that like any other French citizen, Elio could sign up to volunteer and play his own part in making the Paris Olympics such a success.
How did it work?
In 2021, L’Arche applied, along with other associations, to form a partnership with the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (known as COJOP in French).
Some people from L’Arche then met with COJOP staff to make sure that the missions offered to volunteers with disabilities were changed, so that each person with a disability could be included. The changes included the number of hours that a volunteer needed to be at the games, and the understanding that people would have some support needs. An example of these rules was that 80% of the volunteers carried out their tasks with a one-to-one companion.
L’Arche was the third largest contributor to the overall adapted volunteering program at the 2024 Olympic Games. In total, there were over 800 volunteers.
Laëti, volunteer from L’Arche à Dijon with another volunteer
‘The build-up was very well thought out’, according to Keevin, another volunteer from L’Arche at Gordes: ‘We watched videos of the Olympics with our manager, and we had meetings at least once a month to talk about what we were going to do there. I was really looking forward to this day.’
The waiting lasted two years, reports Laeti, a volunteer from L’Arche Dijon. But it was worth it! When the big moment arrived, ‘I enjoyed watching the wheelchair rugby and seeing Stéphane (Houdet, French player) play tennis.’
Her friend Julie loved meeting and helping the spectators: ‘at the welcome desk, they asked the assistants to step back so the volunteers could listen.’ In fact, taking responsibility was an important part of his volunteering experience: Matteo ‘liked being at the information desk, where I wrote down the name and number of each spectator who came to ask for information’; Sylvain liked ‘scanning tickets with phones. I also checked the discovery pass and the date’. Parsa too was enthusiastic: ‘being at the reception meant I could talk to the spectators and guide them.’
But volunteering also had some challenges: Lola from Dijon, who helped out at the Paralympics, found the standing difficult: ‘my legs hurt.’ Sylvain agrees: his advice to other volunteers: ‘take short breaks.’
Lola et Sylvain, volunteers from L’Arche à Dijon
Some memories will stay long in the mind: For his part, Sylvain was thrilled to be chosen to hold the flag for France for the tennis at the Roland Garros stadium. Sébastien, from Le Moulin, recalls working at the ticket scan for the France / US women’s football match: ‘I saw Thierry Henri.’ The chance to get so close to a footballing hero doesn’t come every day! Jason remembers with pride the volunteers’ uniform he wore each day, a sign of his responsibility.
But for some, it wasn’t just the games themselves have left a treasured memory: volunteering meant packing a suitcase and travelling to another part of France: Mélanie from Dijon for instance, loved the warm welcome that the L’Arche Compiegne community gave her. For Jason, it was the opportunity to share a bedroom with his friend Sylvain.
And now, the Olympic torch itself will be travelling. The excitement, effort and responsibility of volunteering have finally ended. France has passed the Olympic torch to the US, which will be hosting the next games in Los Angeles, in 2028.
The torch carries forward a strong commitment to inclusion and active participation. As the Paris games have shown, the Olympics and Paralympics can be a beacon of hope all citizens: with and without intellectual disabilities. As the volunteers used to say to the spectators: ‘That is the way to go.’
