Gunnedah woman a driver for 2018 Commonwealth Games

The Gunnedah woman has just returned from training as a volunteer for the Commonwealth Games, which will kick off at the Gold Coast on April 4.

Mrs Cousens is among more than 400 drivers for the games and will spend a month in Queensland.

“I’m like a taxi driver for athletes, officials and dignitaries,” she said.

The local applied to become a “Game Shaper” in 2016 when she was living in Shailer Park, Brisbane.

“I saw the [volunteers] ad in the local papers and I thought, ‘I could do that. I could volunteer’,” she said.

The next year, her husband was transferred to Gunnedah so they moved. For Mrs Cousens, it was a return to a childhood home after 40 years.

“I partially grew up here,” she said.

“My father was the station master at Emerald Hill.”

Mrs Cousens heard from the Commonwealth Games committee five months after she applied and travelled to the Gold Coast for an interview.

“First of all they did security checks and licence checks and then they did a whole big spiel on what the games are about… and then we did a one-on-one interview,” she said.

“It was just like a work interview. They asked what I could contribute and how would I overcome difficulties.

“A month later I found out I was given a position as a driver.”

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Mrs Cousens said she had been concerned that she might not be chosen because she had moved, so she was pleasantly surprised when she received the news.

“I just thought you’d have to be more qualified. It’s not something I’ve done before [but] I’m pretty good at meeting people I don’t know,” she said.

She travelled to the Gold Coast last week and picked up her uniform on Thursday, then did a full day’s training on  Friday.

Her start date is March 20 and she will stay with her sister in Runaway Bay until April 19. Starting before the games will give the volunteers the time to put their training into practice and get used to their roles.

“There’s actually an app for us. The jobs come in and we accept them on the app… All the destinations are pre-programmed in there,” she said.

“I could be assigned to a person or a team for the day or we get a booking where we could pick up a person or we could be waiting in a taxi rank and if someone comes out of the venue, we can take them where they need to go.

“We actually have a lane to drive in within the Gold Coast centre itself and it’s the lane the buses get to drive in.”

Mrs Cousens will work both day and night shifts. Day shifts are 7am-4pm and night shifts are 2.30pm-12.30am.

“I’m a bit excited about it but nervous at the same time,” she said.

“It’s all about helping other people. I’m really looking forward to it.”