About 51 per cent of the respondents who are willing to become volunteers are company employees, while 22 per cent are college students.

BOCOG officials said they were considering working with government agencies to draft some favourable policies to encourage companies and universities to support their employees and students to serve the Paralympics.

Training of volunteers is another urgent and complicated task. Most of the respondents believe that knowledge of disabilities, how best to support them and foreign languages are the top three attributes needed.

About 80 per cent of those polled have studied English, and 4 per cent have knowledge of other foreign languages, such as French, Japanese, German, Russian and Spanish. However, among those who know a foreign language, only 4 per cent have mastered it, and 14 per cent can speak and write to a good level. The remainder can only speak and write some basic words and sentences.

Apart from language training, volunteers also need to get a deeper understanding of the support needed by athletes with a disability, and avoid saying or doing anything that could damage their self-esteem. For instance, volunteers should get their approval before helping them.

Zhao Jihua, a former member of the executive council of the China Disabled Persons Federation, who has organized many sports meetings for the disabled, said respondents' concerns over how best to support the athletes related to the general lack of understanding of people with a disability and the world they live in.

"As long as you treat them as you would your own relatives or friends, and try not to take pity on them but treat them as equals, then you will be able to give proper help to them rather than making them feel uneasy," Zhao said.

"I'm glad to see that so many people are willing to serve for the Paralympics, and their work will help draw the whole nation's attention to the difficulties faced by disabled people in China."

During the Summer Olympics and the Paralympics in 2008, Beijing needs around 100,000 volunteers, and about 30,000 of them will work for the Paralympic Games.

BOCOG has worked out a volunteer recruitment programme according to its Strategic Plan and Action Plan for the Beijing 2008 Games, drawing on the successful experiences of previous Games in these areas. The volunteer programme also offers a chance for persons with a disability to serve the Games directly.

"About 100 to 200 of the volunteers for the Beijing Paralympic Games will be persons with a disability," said Ma Dajun, vice-board chairman of the Beijing Disabled Persons Federation. "They may participate in varied jobs such as interpretation, computer work and massage."

The Beijing Paralympic Games will be held between September 6 and 17, 2008. With the most sports competitions in its history, it will feature a total of 20 sports. Of the total, 18 sports will be held in Beijing, with the sailing events contested in Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province and the equestrian events in Hong Kong.

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