MUNICH, June 22, 2023 - The German team of the international marketing and communications agency Allison+Partners is bringing a dedicated team of 13 volunteers who will serve as storytellers and reporters during the Special Olympics World Games Berlin, capturing content and bringing awareness to the powerful stories of Special Olympics athletes, coaches and volunteers.
The Special Olympics World Games is taking place from 17 – 25 June. Nearly 6,500 athletes and Unified partners (athletes without intellectual disabilities) from 176 countries will compete in 26 sports. Allison+Partners staff will attend competitions as well as non-sports events including Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® programming, the world’s largest program that provides free health screenings, education, and training to improve the care and wellbeing of individuals with intellectual disabilities, as well as athlete and family parties and festivals.
The team will interview fans in the stands, athletes, coaches and family members and share these stories with members of the media to demonstrate the power of inclusion. Through their involvement, the volunteers hope to contribute to shining a spotlight on the great achievements of Special Olympics athletes.
"We have great admiration for the athletic performance of Special Olympics athletes and would like to help them receive recognition for it from a wider audience through our volunteer work. And of course, we are equally looking forward to many days of great sporting events, joy and community. We are proud to be part of it!"
The collaboration between Allison+Partners and Special Olympics formally began a year ago, but the organization has been a long-standing supporter. The common goal is to promote the global inclusion movement as well as to gain greater awareness of Special Olympics projects in the areas of sports, education, health and athlete leadership. In addition to supporting major events and highlights such as the World Games in Berlin, there is a global volunteer engagement program that connects Allison+Partners' more than 600 employees with local Special Olympics Programs in 50 locations, as well as providing media training for athletes to better prepare them to share their stories in their local communities.
“Almost a year ago, we set out on a journey of inclusion with Allison+Partners, launching the first of its kind Global Volunteer Engagement Program, where hundreds of Allison+Partners staff from 50 offices across the globe connected with our Special Olympics Programs locally to volunteer in a number of ways—participating in events like Polar Plunge® events, attending Young Athletes events, serving as fans in the stands during local Games and trainings and offering invaluable communications support. The entire Allison+Partners Munich team has joined us on-site in Berlin and volunteered, reporting on our athletes’ achievements on and off the playing field, sharing these stories with media and promoting the importance of acceptance and inclusion. Our volunteers are the backbone of our movement and we are grateful for the Allison+Partners team to help ampflify those voices who are not always heard—the voices of our athletes. We are truly #unbeatabletogether.“