Left: Rowshan Mizan. Pic: East London Business Alliance

Young London ambassadors from Tower Hamlets and Hackney joined the Mayor of London to unveil the uniforms that will be worn by volunteers during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The eye-catching pink and purple uniforms, described as “quintessentially British” by Boris Johnson, will be worn by 8,000 Team London volunteers, at 43 information pods across key locations in the capital.

Rowshan Mizan, 17, from Bow, who met the Mayor at the launch in Wimbledon, was selected to become a London ambassador after taking part in Rep London, an employability and volunteering project for young people from Tower Hamlets and other host boroughs.

She said: “Being a London ambassador means being given the chance to represent the place I’ve lived my whole life. I would also like to positively represent the multi-culturalism in London.”

Mizan will join a 200-strong team of volunteers who will be manning an information pod in Spitalfields – the only pod that will be run exclusively by young people.

The Mayor said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for young people and we want to see them mobilised by the Games, not just to take part in sport, but to do all kinds of stuff that will help them get involved in their community but also help them into jobs.

“Because all the evidence is, if you can get into something like this, you’re well on the way to getting a job because it gives you all sorts of experience that employers find really, really valuable.”

Rep London teamed up with the Mayor’s scheme, to ensure that young people from east London get the chance to put the skills they have learnt through the project into action.

Erica Chamberlain, Rep London’s programme manager, said: “It was fantastic to have 10 students from the host boroughs taking part in the uniform launch. Volunteering on the Team London ambassador pod in Spitalfields will give these young people the opportunity to represent London and use all of the skills they have been taught during [ELBA sessions]. Projects like Rep London ensure that young people remain at the heart of the Games.”

The volunteering project is run by the social regeneration charity, East London Business Alliance, and funded through the Olympic Lottery Distributor.

For any information visit: http://www.replondon.org.uk/