THE proud parents of Olympic windsurfer Bryony Shaw were among the volunteering hopefuls to take part in the first round of London 2012 interviews on Portland.

Weymouth’s Hazel and Brian Shaw celebrated the launch of the first of eight regional Games Maker selection centres at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) yesterday.

They were joined by other volunteers, sponsors and nine times Paralympic gold medallist Chris Holmes, who is director of Paralympic integration for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

An estimated 2,000 volunteer applicants – dubbed Games Makers – from within a 75-mile radius of the borough will be interviewed at the 2012 Sailing venue over the next 12 days until March 20.

They will be among 100,000 people interviewed nationally for 70,000 volunteering places as the ‘faces of the home Games’.

Brian Shaw, aged 75, of Buxton Road, hopes to volunteer as a beach master to assist competitors with their boat trolleys during the Games and build-up events, while Hazel aims to work on the press operations side.

Mr Shaw said: “It’s a unique event, it’s never going to happen again in my lifetime and to not come and be involved in that would be rather sad really.

“It would be great if some of the local children could be involved. Cadets at our sailing club, Castle Cove, get really enthused when Olympians walk past them.

“It would be a great legacy for life and they could tell their grandchildren ‘I was part of that’.”

Bournemouth University lecturer Holly Henderson, aged 32, of Fortuneswell, Portland said: “It’s fantastic living locally and coming down here and seeing the facilities when the world class events are on, it’s absolutely magical.

“This summer there’s three major events going on and it’s a feast each month, as far as I’m concerned.”

A dedicated Games Maker interview centre has also been established at London’s ExCel Centre and forthcoming regional selection events will be held across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

It comes ahead of a Young Games Maker programme, which will launch in July to recruit 1,500 people under the age of 18.

Chris Holmes said: “It’s really fantastic to have the first of our regional assessment centres start. It’s truly awesome.

“Two thousand interviews, 170 interviews a day for people to be part of our sport and press operations or possibly part of our other venues across the UK.”

He added: “I’ve been lucky enough to go to four previous Games and I can tell you how crucial volunteers are. It’s often said they’re the face of the Games but truly they’re the beating heart.”