RESIDENTS are being urged to get down to McDonald’s to find out how they can get involved in the home Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The London 2012 Games Maker team is coming to Weymouth tomorrow to meet residents and to raise awareness of volunteering opportunities.

The fast food giant has joined forces with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) to help recruit and train helpers.

The team will be hosting an information event at the McDonald’s restaurant in St Mary Street, from 10am until 2pm and then at the Weymouth Library, Great George Street, from 3pm to 5pm. Anybody interested in volunteering at the 2012 Games is invited to meet the team, find out what is involved and why they should apply in advance of applications opening on September 15.

LOCOG will also be working with Volunteer Centre Dorset on the day to raise awareness of other volunteering opportunities in the area.

The event is part of a UK-wide tour to offer an opportunity for people to find out more about the programme.

LOCOG seeks to attract, train and retain up to 70,000 dedicated and inspirational people from all over the UK, for a wide variety of volunteer roles at Games time.

Roles include meet and greet at ports of entry, ceremonies costume assistants, spectator assistants, uniform distributors and ticket checking.

Around 370 volunteers recently took part in Weymouth’s Skandia Sail for Gold regatta, helping on committee boats, as mark layers and safety boat drivers as well as the shore-based people assisting on reception, with the media, race tracking and with parking.

Firefighter Alun Morgan, of Bridport, who got involved with Dorchester Volunteer Bureau and has undertaken Team Dorset training, co-ordinated the car park stewards.

Mr Morgan, 46, said he and his wife Sue, a teacher at Colfox school, enjoyed being part of the world-class event.

He added: “I’m also a safety boat driver for the academy. I’m just supporting the academy while it prepares for 2012.”

Peter Baldwin, 54, of Cheshire worked at Sail for Gold for a second year, to help co-ordinate the boat tracking system.

He said his goal was to volunteer at the home Olympic sailing events and added: “2012 is just a unique opportunity. It’s a one-off probably in anybody’s lifetime that the Olympics is coming to the UK.”

To find out more about Games Maker roles and the application process visit: www.london2012.com/volunteering