Dame Kelly Holmes meets London 2012 Young Leaders

Dame Kelly Holmes meets London 2012 Young Leaders pic: LOCOG

Young people from around the UK, including Tower Hamlets and Hackney, met gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes this week as part of Olympic development programme London 2012 Young Leaders.

The 18-month programme, supported by BP, is designed to give 100 disadvantaged young people the chance to make positive change to their lives by giving them a number of unique volunteering opportunities, resulting in the chance to work at the Olympics as a “Young Games Maker” volunteer.

Ahead of their Games Maker interviews at London’s ExCel, the teens met Dame Kelly, who said: “It was great to be at the London 2012 Young Leaders Programme milestone event. This group of young people have a fantastic opportunity to play a really important volunteer role in next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Zoe Ward, from Tower Hamlets, said: “My interview was great – I think my confidence shined through even though I was nervous. Doing the mock interview practice with my BP coach yesterday really helped. In my interview I spoke about how through the Young Leaders Programme I’ve developed teamwork skills and how when I help others deliver their projects, I treat it like it’s my own project and put just as much effort in.”

Renicha Furlonge, from Hackney, said: “The interview went better than expected. I thought it would a lot more formal and that the interviewer would be stern – but she made me feel relaxed. She was really friendly. I talked about my two Young Leaders projects – going to Sam and Annie’s day care centre where we did a quiz and a tea party, and the healthy eating project at a secondary school in Hackney. I talked about the role that I played, some of the challenges and how I overcame them, the impact and importance of group work. The training we had yesterday reassured me about the interview and prepared me for potential questions that might come up. I’m excited about the chance of getting a role at Games time. It’s encouraged me to want to do more for my community and get others excited about the Games.”

The successful Young Leaders will be allocated their roles shortly.

For more information on the London 2012 Young Leaders, visit www.london2012.com/youngleaders

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