Training to be a London Ambassador

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Our training was split into three modules.  The first took place in March at the same place we had our recruitment event.  Although in retrospect if felt quite removed (the trainers worked for a charity unconnected to London Ambassadors and it was in a local centre) it was probably the module I enjoyed the most.  We had a table of lovely people and together we worked through the obligatory team exercises.  This time we had to come up with the types of people we were likely to meet (international tourists, domestic tourists and Londoners) and what their different needs would be, listing questions we thought they might ask.  Our team was once again quite competitive ("we finished first!"......"that's good, but that's not really the point").  Of course the question we assumed we will get asked the most is "where are the nearest toilets?"  We also had to decide what we'd do in various situations.  For our team the most distressing one we were given was if we encountered a lost child or a parent looking for a lost child.  One girl on our table was all but traumatized that this might happen on her shift.  We reassured her that we would come and visit her on her shift......pretending to have lost a child.  It was useful to think, in a relaxed environment and with a clear head, about what you might do in such situations so that in the throes of panic you might remember what you should do.  In this module we also saw what our uniform would look like for the first time.  To sum up our response: communal groan, but more on that later.


The second module was at Stratford.  Having been to the previous module of a small group of local people it was quite a shock to be faced with a massive room crammed with people.  The day involved more team exercises, some John Lewis customer service videos, and more role playing.  But I think this module really served to get us enthusiastic and hyped up about the Games.  Which it really did.  Videos of London winning the bid, a stirring speech from BoJo, seeing all the amazing cultural events happening and doing exercises to get us talking about London all did the trick......just throw in a bit of Heather Small's Proud and we were ready to burst with excitement.  I also stayed behind to take my WorldHost test and I now proudly have a Level 2 Award in Welcoming Tourists and Visitors to their destination.  I'm all about the qualifications, me.


Module three was a little bit disappointing.  After being so excited after module two it just felt like a bit of a let-down.  It was our "location training" so it took place at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank, along with some Southbank Centre volunteers who were also being trained.  Now, don't get me wrong, the stuff we were presented with was amazing....the Southbank is the place to be this summer (Stratford, who?), without a doubt.  So many different cultural events, installations, exhibitions.  It's just that when you've sat through a list of everything that happening, when's there's so much happening, it starts to wash over you a little bit.  Then we went outside to orient ourselves.  This was the bit I was looking forward to the most, but in the end it was a huge let-down.  I thought maybe we'd get some exciting treasure hunt to really get us moving up and down the Southbank hunting down the different places and getting a feel for the place.  Instead we had a list of questions (where can I find free drinking water, where are the toilets etc) which are perfectly valid but could be answered by looking in the guide book we had been given.  So unsurprisingly, in the baking heat, most people opted to stand in the shade and answer the questions straight from the book.  I think this was a bit of a missed opportunity.  We also didn't get much time to do it, when I think getting used to the Southbank is surely one of the most important elements?  We also had a less than enthusiastic team leader, sad to say, who spent most the time telling us to hurry up and complaining about the organisers ("it was much better than this on Tuesday" is not the sort of thing I want to hear.  Fingers crossed we don't get him.).  


At the end of all our training we congratulated ourselves by spending time on a beautiful May evening in a favourite place in London......the Southbank.  Dinner in Giraffe, a walk by the river and drinks at the Udderbelly's Magners Pasture.  Perfect.