On Sun 30th Sept 2012 at a secret location close to Heathrow Airport, Pete Pinnington hosted an outdoor party laid on for all of Team GB, Paralympics GB and the ‘Heathrow Volunteers’ who were brilliant at welcoming people flying in for the London 2012 Olympics and directing them to the games and around the city!
Over the course of the Olympic Games, Heathrow Airport welcomed:-
- 5,000 oversized bags including canoes,javelins, bikes & pole vault poles,
- 1,300 firearms & ammunition,
- 20,000 members of the media,
- and 150 heads of state!
In the 77 days of Heathrow’s London 2012 operational period, they handled:-
- 30,270 Olympic Games Family arrivals with 51,910 bags of which 1,330 were oversized,
- At the Olympic Village, Heathrow Volunteers checked in 2,908 people with 6,641 pieces of baggage,
- and they saw 27,020 Olympic Games Family depart – 5,008 through their Games Terminal and they took 51,370 bags with them,
For the paralympics:-
- Heathrow Volunteers saw 8,740 Paralympic Games Family arrive with 16,930 bags and over 2,800 wheelchairs,
- and at the village, 3,090 Paralympic Games Family checked in – more than for the Olympics – and the main terminals saw 9,800 Paralympic Games Family depart!
The family day party itself consisted of:-
- An ‘It’s A Knockout’ assault course,
- a Sports Day Arena with egg & spoon, three-legged races etc,
- an Action Zone with penalty shoot-outs, mega slide, ferris wheel, waltzer,
- and LIVE entertainment on the main stage with some of the Team GB & Paralympic GB Olympians being interviewed by our excellent event host – Pete Pinnington!
Some of the many athelte’s Pete interviewed included:-
- Olympic Rowing Gold Medallist – Steve Williams
- Olympic Gold Medal Rower – Katherine Grainger
- Wheelchair Basketball Player – Ade Adepitan
- International Swimmer – Mark Foster
- Paralympic Swimmer – James O’Shea