Sports honour for firm's team leader

Sandra Cotton, of Coca-Cola European Partners, in Morley Way, Woodston, is among 70 volunteers for the Special Olympics GB’s 10th National Summer Games in Sheffield.

She will act as a venue operations volunteer for a range of sports, including badminton, judo, gymnastics and table tennis.

Within her role, Sandra will manage the logistics of the events at the English Institute of Sport and support the overall running of the competitions in this venue.

Sandra said: “I’m honoured to be part of the team volunteering at this year’s Special Olympics National Games.

“Supporting local communities in this way is an integral part of our culture at CCEP.

“We’re all very excited to be cheering on the athletes in their different sports throughout the week and celebrating the brilliant work that Special Olympics does for local people in Peterborough and across GB.”

The games run until Saturday and will be the largest learning disability sports event in Great Britain in 2017 with about 2,600 athletes take part in 20 sports events.

CCEP is a sponsor of the volunteering programme for the games, helping to fund key aspects of the competition including training, uniforms and management of the volunteers.

Nick Brown, head of sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners, said: “We’re extremely pleased to be supporting the fantastic work of Special Olympics GB.

“As a business, our work with local communities is of great importance to us. We’ve had a huge level of response from our teams across the Coca-Cola European Partners and The Coca-Cola Company network, who are looking forward to joining the athletes at the National Games and supporting them throughout the process.”

Karen Wallin, chief executive for Special Olympics Great Britain, said: “I am so grateful to Coca-Cola European Partners for supporting and sponsoring the 2017 Games Volunteer Programme.

“Over the week of the games 1,000 volunteers will be working across the 13 sports venues and behind the scenes to ensure the games are a great success.

“We are very proud of our 50 year partnership with the Coca-Cola Company globally and here in GB, we have been partners since our founding in 1978.”