I was born high up on the Jos plateau in Nigeria, raised in Ghana until I was 19 years of age, schooled in Scotland, the land of my father, and occasionally holidayed in London, from where my English mother hailed. As an adult I have worked both sides of the Border and also taught for nine years in India – and thus have five Commonwealth countries close to my heart. (And this doesn’t account for visits to Canada, Malta, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa…)

Trackside at the Games

As a volunteer at the 2022 Games in Birmingham, I was part of the Photo Team, a component of the media group. This gave me privileged access at both the marathon and the athletics (in the Alexander Stadium) not only to ‘trackside’ views, but also to the photographers and other journalists. It was a joy talking with people from around the Commonwealth, most of whom seemed delighted to have someone to talk with about their work and their countries.

Three encounters

Three encounters among many stick with me. There was the young lady photographer from Nigeria who was anxious about reaching the right spot to photograph a medal ceremony. I chatted to her and mentioned that I was born in Jos. Her eyes widened as she said, ‘Jos? But, you’re…’ – and I finished off the sentence for her: ‘Yes, I’m white!’ There was no racial undertone in any of this but simple, almost childlike, incredulity which then gave way to warmth and excitement. Next was the conversation with the single media representative from Gibraltar. ‘What are your medal hopes?’ I asked. He laughed. ‘No medal hopes but lots of opportunities for personal bests. For us in Gibraltar, this is the pinnacle of sport as we won’t otherwise be singularly represented in a global event. We simply enjoy the taking part’. And then thirdly, there was the chit-chat with the photographer from Botswana who was positioned at the ‘head on platform’ overlooking the finish line. As the men’s 4 x 400 metre relay final unwound, he became more and more excited. The Botswanan athletes moved up into the lead at one point before having to settle for silver. His excitement was such that I expect all his photos of the finish were actually a blur!

The Friendly Games

I could go on to tell of the Australian gentleman who bounced up to me as I made my way down to trackside with a photographer to say, ‘That’s my son in the decathlon high jump’ – he just had to tell someone! (His son won bronze overall.) And then there was the visitor in the queue for the shuttle bus who spoke with me and another volunteer to ask how we were feeling about the Games and to thank us both profusely. I know it’s almost trite to say that these are The Friendly Games, but I have found them to be so. It has been a privilege to witness genuine, childlike, joy over the past ten days and to acknowledge that for the vast majority of the athletes from the Commonwealth nations this has been their one moment in the spotlight – and they have revelled in it whilst embracing everything and everyone around them. As a ‘child of the Commonwealth’, it has brought to me a lot of satisfaction, too, and just a few pin badges!