Following Birmingham 2022 announcing the final route of the Queen’s Baton Relay, through England, we caught up with World Netball Board Director and Chief Executive of Thurrock Council, Lyn Carpenter about her excitement for the Baton to travel through her borough.
Carpenter has been on the World Netball Board since 2019, as Director of the Europe Region, and has been Chief Executive of Thurrock since 2015 and the Baton travelling through her borough this July will see her work and netball commitments come together.
Lyn said: “We will receive the Baton Relay on the morning of Friday 8 July on its final journey through England this summer, a journey which brings together and celebrates communities across the Commonwealth during the build-up to the Games.
“A journey which involves the Baton arriving across the Thames from Gravesend and ascending up the Bridge of Memories, exactly where the first arrivals on HMT Empire Windrush arrived at Port of Tilbury in 1948, an iconic moment in the history of my borough and our country.
“The motto of my borough is ‘By Thames to all Peoples of the World’, an approach which reflects the importance of the connection to our widest friends around the globe.”
It is not just an important day for Carpenters borough and history though, it is also an important day for Carpenter personally, she added: “As a member of the England Netball team in 1998 when our sport was first introduced into the Commonwealth Games, I had the pleasure of competing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a brilliant squad of pioneering women, many of whom are still involved at every level in supporting netball, nationally, regionally and globally.”
The Baton Relay for Birmingham 2022 started back in October 2021, and it will have travelled to all 72 Commonwealth Nations before eventually ending up in the host city of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham, at the Aston Hall on the 28th July, the day of the opening ceremony.
Carpenter is excited to attend Birmingham 2022, she said: “I have my tickets already for the netball and I can’t wait for the competition to begin.
“Being a part of the Commonwealth Games family of athletes is a privilege I don’t take lightly, it has been on this particular stage (court) that I learnt some of the greatest life lessons about teamwork, leadership, resilience and performance.
“A literal journey of 24 years since the heat of Kuala Lumpur, to the history of Tilbury and the Windrush generations, the Queen’s Baton signifies my ongoing commitment to our netball community and the deep friendships along the way.”
To find out more about the Queen’s Baton Relay, click here.
To view the netball schedule at Birmingham 2022, click here.
