As the UK gears up for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, taking place from 28 July – 8 August, one of Volumatic’s valued employees, Sara Phipps, has been selected as a baton bearer to take part in the Queen’s Baton Relay. The special baton will be carried throughout the UK on its journey to the Alexander Stadium, where its arrival will mark the start of the games at its Opening Ceremony on Thursday 28July.
Travelling via land, air, and sea, more than 180 communities in England will be part of the Queen’s Baton route as it journeys for 2,500 miles over a 25-day period. The relay began on Monday 4 July, and Sara will be carrying the baton with a special message from the Queen on Thursday 21 July, which is entwined with unique components and was designed to represent the power of collaboration, through part of Coventry in the West Midlands, which also happens to be Volumatic HQ.
Sara will have the honour of carrying the baton as it passes through Millennium Place in the centre of Coventry before moving on to other neighbouring towns and cities and then reaching its final destination in Birmingham a week later.
The Queen’s Baton itself also has links with the city, as it was designed by Coventry-based artist Laura Nyahuye and then made in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter, which links it back to the games’ host city.
A keen cyclist and parkrun ambassador for her local area, Sara was nominated as a baton bearer by her friends from the parkrun community following her long and brave recovery from a serious road accident while she was out cycling in 2021 and was selected by a Commonwealth Games panel from a pool of over 8,000 people to represent the games.
Sara has worked as an Accounts Assistant for leading cash handling experts Volumatic for the past three years and credits the company for aiding her recovery. She said: “I feel really honoured to have been chosen as a baton bearer for the Queen’s Relay and am so grateful to be here after my accident.
“Working for Volumatic really helped my recovery as they were such a supportive workplace throughout and now that I’m back to full strength I’m delighted to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of the Commonwealth Games in 2022.”
