Imogen Carter

Imogen has put in a huge amount of work for fundraising for national eating disorder charity Beat, while also being an active member of other student society committees and dealing with her own personal health issues. She is trying to make the student community a kinder and better place, particularly with regards to mental health, which is needed more than ever in such hard times.

What’s your connection to the University?

I am a current University of Birmingham student, going into my fourth year of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, majoring in biology and neuroscience.

Do you have any favourite sports? What do you like about them?

While I grew up loving cross-country running, gymnastics and weightlifting, my favourite sport is without a doubt pole fitness! I joined Pole Fitness UoB Society in my first year of university here and absolutely fell in love with the sport. The pole community is so inclusive and welcoming of everyone of all genders, shapes and sizes, and is surprisingly accessible for people to start having no previous fitness experience!

While growing up, did you follow any particular sports stars?

When I was younger, I was a huge fan of Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (Heptathlete) and Beth Tweddle (Artistic gymnast) and was so excited to watch them compete in the 2012 Olympic Games from my TV! Now, I am in absolute awe of Andrew Gregory, a Pole Dance and Sport Para-athlete who I had the privilege of watching compete live at the UK Professional Pole Dancing Championships in 2021, and raises important awareness about homosexuality and being an amputee.

What are you most looking forward to during the Games?

I am most looking forward to watching the Women's Bronze Cricket Match at Edgbaston stadium, that I was kindly invited to as a result of being a batonbearer. I've never watched a live sports tournament, so I'm really grateful to have been given this opportunity.

How does it feel to know your alma mater is hosting the Games?

It's great that the University is able to host some of the events, as well as provide accommodation for many of the athletes - I will be housekeeping/cleaning athlete accommodation over the summer, which certainly makes for a more exciting summer job than others I've had in previous years!

How does it feel to be selected as a batonbearer?

I feel so, so grateful to have been nominated as a batonbearer for the work I've been doing with Beat UoB, meaning the awareness that we're raising for the National Eating Disorder Charity Beat is reaching the wider student community.