“I was born and bred in Glasgow and I know that the people have got a great sense of humour.
“I think that a sense of humour is really a huge requirement for a lot of the volunteer roles. It’s lovely to think that if we get the right people volunteering that everyone will get a chance to experience that Scottish humour.
“The volunteers I remember most from London 2012 were those individuals with their own personalities.
“You could never say that the Games Makers were a production line of certain people. They were different ages and from different backgrounds, and they’d all welcome you in a different way.
“I remember turning up on the morning of my London 2012 Olympic rowing final and the volunteer welcoming us had a chocolate medal around his neck.
“He was saying, ‘Hey everyone, I bet you’re jealous of my gold medal!’ and I was thinking, ‘well, yes, actually I am right now’.
“Maybe it was a fateful meeting, maybe he had a premonition of what was to come.
“Volunteers can really set the mood of the Games. It’s a crucial role. If you get it right, people arrive and leave happy.
“I walked out of the Olympic Stadium a few times with 80,000 others dreading the journey home and the long walk to the station, but the whole way along the queue there were volunteers high-fiving people, dancing and one guy was singing ‘if you’re happy and you know it clap your hands’.
“Some of the volunteering roles could perhaps have been seen as mundane or not particularly glamorous, but the volunteers were all made to feel admired, respected and loved. That made them even happier to be doing those roles and the feel-good spirit rubbed off on everyone else.”