Official Launch Ceremony Held In Beijing

yaponline.org (Beijing, 23/06/2008)

The Young Advocates Project is now officially in operation, after a signing ceremony held earlier today in Beijing. The ceremony was attended by all of Beijing's young advocates. Also present at the ceremony were Chinese reprasentatives from BOCOG (The Organizing Committee of the Beijing Olympic Games), CDPF (The Chinese Disabled Persons' Federation) and He Junquan, a Paralympic gold medalist. British representatives included members of the Royal Opera House and The British Council in Beijing.

At the ceremony, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the First Secretary of The British Council in Beijing, Robin Rickard, and the Director of the International Department of the CDPF, Chen Ya'an.

Robin Rickard said in a speech given at the ceremony, "The program will establish a global community of Young Advocates committed to promoting the Paralympic Spirit. Through these Young Advocates disseminating and training in their schools, people will become aware of the potential of sport to benefit a diverse range of people in the community and the active role young people with disabilities can play in society."