Volunteers giving their all for gold

Published: 14 October, 2010
by STEVE BARNETT

TWO new faces have been welcomed on the Camden sports scene as part of an ongoing programme aimed at unearthing future stars.

Tope Matti from Camden School for Girls and Darren Fitzpatrick from William Ellis have been unveiled as Young Sports Ambassadors.

The duo will work within the Camden School Sport Partnership to promote sport and help find the borough’s future coaches, volunteers and medal winners.

Part of a nationwide programme celebrating London’s hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, Tope and Darren will organise sports events and advise youngsters about the benefits of teamwork, fair play and eating healthily.

The Year 11 pupils have been ranked as Gold-standard Ambassadors because of the countless hours they have put into volunteering within Camden’s secondary schools.

They recently teamed-up with Platinum Ambassadors Louise Hayes and Ashley St Ange to host a special conference at Haverstock School in Chalk Farm.

They were joined by a team of 26 Young Ambassadors, called AdiStars, from every secondary school in Camden to discuss ways to spread the Olympic and Paralympic message and boost sports participation across the borough.

So far Camden’s Young Ambassadors scheme is proving a huge success, with more and more youngsters giving up their free time.

The number of volunteers has rocketed from 37 to 140 in the past year alone.

As a result, the hours being clocked have also jumped, going from 3,132 at the end of the 2009 campaign to 4,350 in 2010. Among the star performers was Lucy Nicholas, who gave up almost 1,000 hours of her time.