Chef de Missions Heading to London for Workshop and Seminar

"By offering this workshop, we hope that we can support the NPCs in their preparations for the London Paralympics next year."

Chef de Missions and representatives of 108 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) will be in London this week to receive an update on preparations for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

On 6 September, 40 representatives from 25 NPCs will take part in a one-day Chef de Mission Workshop organized by the IPC Academy, the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) education partner. The workshop aims to train and up-skill new and interested team leaders to give them an idea of their responsibilities ahead of next year’s Games.

The workshop will cover various areas such as Roles and Responsibilities of Chefs de Mission, the Qualification of Athletes, Entries, Accreditation, Travel, Team Uniforms, and Classification

Attendees will also hear from the USA’s 100m T44 world champion and Beijing silver medallist, Jerome Singleton, who will take part in a questions and answers session on the environments needed to ensure athlete success.

Xavier Gonzalez, IPC Chief Executive Officer, said: “This is the first time that we have organized such a workshop and we are very content with the number of team leaders attending.

“By offering this workshop, we hope that we can support the NPCs in their preparations for the London Paralympics next year.”

From 7-9 September, the Chef de Missions Seminar is taking place, which is a chance for NPC representatives to receive updates and valuable information on various areas from representatives of the London 2012 Organizing Committee (LOCOG) as well as from the IPC.

Areas to be covered amongst others include Accommodation, Accreditation, Sport Entries, and Ticketing. Chef de Missions will also take a tour of many of the new venues that will be used for next year’s Paralympic Games and also have the opportunity to attend International Paralympic Day (IPD) which takes place at Trafalgar Square on 8 September.

Xavier Gonzalez, IPC CEO, said: “The Seminar, as well as the workshop, this week are very important for all NPCs as, for many, this will be the last time they visit Britain ahead of next year’s Games.”

Paul Deighton, Chief Executive of LOCOG said: “We’re delighted to welcome the NPCs from around the world to London and show them how much progress has been made in terms of planning for the Paralympic Games. With just under a year to go until the start of the Paralympic Games, we are committed to getting the Games right for athletes and this week’s meetings will help NPCs around the world prepare for next year’s Games.”

The London 2012 Paralympic Games will take place from 29 August to 9 September next year. Up to 4,200 athletes from 150 countries will compete in 20 sports.

Tickets are going on sale on 9 September and so far more than one million people have registered their interest. To sign up for tickets, visit www.tickets.london2012.com.