December 23, 2011 4.53 pm This story is over 153 months old

NHS volunteer gains Olympic chaperone role

Olympic role: A volunteer drug-testing chaperone role has been filled by a Lincolnite.

A NHS volunteer from Lincoln will also be volunteering for a role at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Dave Oakes (54) will be an anti-doping chaperone volunteer at the Olympics, which will be held in London next year between July 27 to August 12.

Dave presently volunteers at the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust library in the Peter Hodgkinson Centre.

He will be invited to stay at the Olympic Village in Olympic Park, London, so he can carry out his role on the anti-doping team.

Dave will have to track down athletes, inform them that they have been selected to be tested for performance enhancement drugs, and accompany them to the testing station.

He said: “I couldn’t believe it when they told me I had been selected.

“Originally, almost 250,000 applied, 100,000 were invited for interview and only 3,000 people were invited for a selection event by UK anti-doping. So the odds were stacked against me.

“This is an once-in-a-lifetime event for me and the whole world will be focused on it.”

He added: “I am a retired police officer so I am used to the rules of evidence and procedures, as well as having experience of working with drug enforcement.”

For the next few months he will travel to London for training and venue familiarisation in preparation for the Games.

Source: Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | Photo: Alexander Kachkaev