'You take on a different persona volunteering at the Commonwealth Games'

When Alice McNaugher decided to volunteer at the Commonwealth Games, she was open to taking on any role.

That is why she spent the opening night of the Games perched in a tall chair, clutching a megaphone in one hand and a foam finger on the other, and leading fans in chanting and cheering for their countries.

Usually the 36-year-old spends her time working in communications for a charity, but throughout the Games she is one of many volunteers keeping the event ticking over.

More than 3,000 people have been recruited for the 10 days of the Games, doing everything from helping visiting teams get around the city to high-fiving fans.

Those tasks can sometimes involve being thrown in at the deep end - as Alice found on the night of the opening ceremony at the OVO Hydro last week.

"The first thing they got me to do was sit in the umpire chair outside the opening ceremony with a megaphone," she laughs.

It was the first time she has ever volunteered at any event.

"I was giving directions, and warming everyone up as they were queuing. It took me a bit of time to warm up to that, but it was brilliant as it went along.

"Something like that is a detour from my normal life. When someone hands you a megaphone and a foam finger it is like you take on a different persona - I'd see Australian fans going past and start leading the Aussie Aussie Aussie chants."

Throughout the Games Alice has been based at the SEC campus, part of a team helping spectators on site.

It does not always involve bellowing into a megaphone - sometimes it's simply helping fans with disabilities find their seats, or showing others which sport is on where.

Alice moved to Glasgow from County Down to study, and describes herself as a keen sports fan who was happy when the city stepped in to host the Games at short notice.

Between volunteering and buying tickets as a fan, she estimates she will see nine of the 10 sports, only missing out on the bowls.

Sampling different sports has been a highlight, but the cheerful 36-year-old says chatting to fans from different countries has been the stand-out moment for her.

"Obviously the Games are on my doorstep so it's easy for me to attend, but I've been speaking to people from Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand who have come over," she said.

"They've been really nice, you're always getting high fives when you have your foam finger on and everyone seems appreciative of Glasgow and the Games in general.

"The Fijians are always so vocal, you can always tell when one of them is taking part by the noise."

Over at Tollcross, where the swimming events have been held, is a volunteer at the other end of the scale.

Peter Craig works in IT for a first aid company, but in 2014 he took part as a performer at the Glasgow Games.

It sparked a keenness to get involved with similar events, and over the years sports fans might have seen him at Euro 2020 matches, cycling championships and BMX events.

This year he's working in the media room at Tollcross, yards away from the pool where the likes of Angharad Evans has picked up medals for Scotland.

"There was a real camaraderie when I did it in 2014, and I really enjoyed it - I was dancing around with a chair during the ceremony," he recalls.

"You get to do unexpected things."

There is less dancing involved in Peter's current role, which is focused on helping members of the media.

However his past experiences have taught the 55-year-old a lot.

"You have to roll with the punches because nothing ever really goes to plan. There are always little things that need problem solving but that's part of the fun – if everything went to script it would be boring.

"It has been quite straightforward this time, but at past events I've been scrambling around underneath desks to fix IT problems or trying to get a Russian women's gymnastics team off the floor as they had over-run their practice time - they weren't keen on that."

Both Peter and Alice say volunteering has given them a boost beyond simply being involved in a big event.

"It was intimidating at first because you do feel self conscious up there," says Alice.

"But then people were reacting back and it built up my confidence. I was loving it."

There are challenges to these experiences, though.

Alice adds: "The chair is higher up than you'd think! Getting up was actually fine, but getting down is always more awkward.

"Also you get a lot of people making tennis jokes when you're sitting up there."