Over the last few weeks, Team England have played a significant part in assisting the British Olympic Association at their Kitting Out event in Birmingham. Members of our team volunteered their time to support the BOA in preparing their athletes and staff for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

What made this experience more special was that it gave four generations of the CGF eqUIP internship programme team a chance to work together for the first time (pictured above): Hollie Lunn (2018-19), Tim Thomas (2019-20), Jodie Lawrence (2020-21) and Jake Samuel (2021-present).

The CGF’s eqUIP programme aims to build capacity in CGAs through a paid internship programme, developed in partnership with local universities as part of the CGF’s global development programme. It creates mutually beneficial opportunities for the intern and the host CGA - developing the skills of young leaders in a national sporting organisation, who deliver special projects which directly benefit the host CGA.

Hollie Lunn was Team England's eqUIP intern from 2018/2019. She returned to university for her final year after her placement, then travelled for half a year and re-joined us at the beginning of this year as a Games Delivery Coordinator. Her main focus is accreditation and villages bed space planning.

Tim Thomas (2019-20) also returned to university after his placement year finished to finish his degree and is graduating this month. He is volunteering with Team England/Team GB for this summer to be involved in the Tokyo UK operations. He will join our executive team towards the end of this year and be with us until Games time.

Jodie Lawrence (2020/2021) has deferred going back to university to remain with us through Games time and she plays a key role in all of our kit design, ordering, delivery and kit distribution.

Jake Samuel (2021/2022) started with us in early June this year, two months ahead of usual so he could have this opportunity to be involved in the Tokyo campaign. He recently graduated from Bath University and is supporting ticketing, accreditation and Games delivery. 

The programme has clearly acted as a springboard for our recent participants' careers and has done in the past too, with Alice Campbell and Delia Bute still working within the multisport Games family – both working full time for the British Paralympic Association. 

The team are also supporting the BOA and BPA in their arrivals and departures operation at Heathrow.