UK students to work at Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games

The Organising Committee Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games (D2010) and Sheffield Hallam University have today signed an exclusive agreement for 30 student volunteers to work at the Games from October 3-14 in the Press Operations Function Area. These students will be selected from Sheffield Hallam University's media and journalism courses and will be part of the pool of 30,000 volunteers for 2010 Delhi Games.

The agreement follows the success of a similar project at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when Sheffield Hallam students worked with the press team and were the only Europeans among 16000 volunteers. Sheffield Hallam is also working in partnership with the London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games.

OC D2010 Chairman Shri Suresh Kalmadi said that OC is planning a state-of-the-art Main Press Centre and International Broadcasting Centre and other facilities for more than 5,000 media representatives. The students of journalism from Sheffield Hallam will get a great opportunity to contribute to the D2010 press operations team. "The volunteers are going to be the face of the Games and we welcome the Sheffield Hallam volunteers to the OC's fold. We hope they will enjoy the experience of working at the Delhi Games and contribute to its success."

Sheffield Hallam University Vice Chancellor Professor Philip Jones thanked the Delhi Organising Committee for this exclusive opportunity to work with the Games. "This is a wonderful opportunity for our students and we would like to thank the OC Delhi 2010 Chairman Mr. Kalmadi for giving us this opportunity."

"Sheffield Hallam was the UK's first designated "City of Sport" and has a world-class reputation for its commitment to sports, which is demonstrated through the sports facilities in the city, backed by teaching, research and medical support at the university. We are delighted to be able to showcase our ability at such a significant and important sporting event as the Delhi Commonwealth Games," said Jones. He added that "not only will the students benefit from working on an internationally prestigious project, they will also have the opportunity to work in an international setting, which will help them to prepare for working in a global environment when they graduate."