You might have noticed the QMP Crash Crew manning the flag points in their orange shirts at Sunday’s ProMX finale – they were some of the army of volunteers that kept the wheels turning and the gates dropping last Sunday.
All major sporting events need the services of volunteers to operate, right up to the Olympics, however trends around the country this year have shown a downturn in event volunteering.
MQ decided to get on the front foot and made a determined effort to beef up the value exchange around volunteering, and the 40+ volunteers including flaggies, starters and finishers who contributed from early Saturday to late Sunday seem to indicate the value was acceptable.
“I was absolutely impressed with all of them,” said Operations Manager Simon Wadwell of the motley crew of motorcycle fans, race parents, racers and ex-racers. “They did a great job, were great to work with, and we even got a nice rap from the Race Director from Victoria. So a big thanks to everyone!”
MQ made all the volunteers feel highly valued, with ‘goodie bags’ that included 2 x QMP Ride Vouchers (transferrable, to maintain their currency value), bottled water, sunscreen, hat, track crew shirt, schedule lanyard and rain poncho (thankfully unnecessary). In addition, there was free entry, lunches each day and a Saturday BBQ, as well as a random prize giveaways included 16 framed, signed posters of ProMX frontrunners, red bull packs and back packs.
Almost all the volunteers took advantage of free camping at the group’s exclusive campsite by the centre lake, with its 180-degree view of the track.
“Everyone was pretty happy,” said Wadwell. “You could see there was a cameraderie forming and being enjoyed at the BBQ, and many have already said they intend to come back next year, and want to do more of this kind of stuff this year!