3M onboard with World Figure Skating Championships

London Community News

By Jonathon Brodie/London Community News / Twitter: @jonathonbrodie The big-time competition of the International Skating Union’s 2013 World Figure Skating Championships now has a big-time sponsor for its volunteer program in 3M Canada when the event comes to London in March. The announcement of 3M being the presenting partner of the volunteer program for the Figure Skating Championships was revealed Friday (Sept. 14) at the international company's Canadian headquarters, on Tartan Drive. A dollar amount wasn’t given for how much 3M will contribute to the week-long event, but funds will help contribute to anything volunteers and athletes will need to help make the championships a success. “We invested in the sponsorship of this program and we leave it up to Skate Canada to kind of take care of the rest and our sponsorship has enabled us to coordinate all the volunteers and work with all the volunteer programs,” said Paul Madden, 3M Canada president and general manager, wearing a jacket with his company’s logo on it that will be handed out to the more than 500 volunteers taking part in the event. “It would be the attire, food for the athletes, organizing the (volunteer) teams together and that sort of thing.” With more 160 million television viewers expected to tune in to the World Figure Skating Championships from more than 60 countries, Bill Boland, the Local Organizing Committee Chair, said volunteers are the backbone to the event. “We have volunteers who will be moving furniture and equipment into place or patching ice holes before the ice resurfaces or retrieving flowers on the ice or serving food in the athletes lounge or making sure that the last athlete in the arena after the doping program has a safe ride back to the hotel,” he said, adding most of the volunteers will be picked from the London area, but some will also be chosen from across the country. “Volunteers are most critical to making this a world-class and best-ever experience for everyone who competes.” The 2013 World Figure Skating Championships run from March 11-17 at the John Labatt Centre. Find us on Facebook: London Community News