WARWICKSHIRE MEANS BUSINESS

Business coming together to help Warwickshire Schools

“We can’t believe people's generosity, the businesses have really come together and genuinely want to help the pupils have everything they need to study at home.”

 Businesses have responded brilliantly to an appeal sent out to ensure some of the county’s most vulnerable young people have sufficient resources to support home learning in the weeks ahead.

As schools faced closure due to COVID-19, there were concerns that young people could run out of the required resources. The Coventry and Warwickshire Careers Hubs, quickly joined by Warwickshire County Council, launched an appeal for businesses to donate any unused stationery which could then be delivered to schools and handed to pupils in need of support.

To support businesses in making donations, the county council created a temporary point at their Business Centre in Nuneaton (Eliot Park Innovation Centre) which allowed a drop-off location for businesses to leave donations.

Business Centres Customer Service Executive Katie Mackiewicz said “We can’t believe people's generosity, the businesses have really come together and genuinely want to help the pupils have everything they need to study at home.”

The teams were overwhelmed by the response of the businesses wanting to help and even took delivery of a stationery order from a business who didn’t have stock to spare but wanted to contribute to the campaign.

So far a number of schools in Coventry and Warwickshire have benefited from the donations from over 18 businesses.

Businesses to donate include:

Warwick Manufacturing Group Integrity Wealth Solutions
Wilmott Dixon Mayer Environmental
National Grid Saltem
University of Leicester Parker Masters
Severn Trent British Forces
Armstrong’s Torc2
Mecalac Comtronics
Mercure Warwickshire Walton Hall Hotel and Spa Control Water
Panda Box Tallon International

Coventry and Warwickshire Careers Hub Enterprise Co-ordinator Emma Culey said: “We have been urging businesses across the region to not only provide support to schools in the short-term, but to also think long-term in their approach to supporting schools.

“Wilmott Dixon donated 250 stationery packs to pupils in Nuneaton and the initiative gathered momentum from there”.

Warwickshire County Council Business Skills Lead, Fay Winterburn said: We are delighted to join such a great campaign which has already supported over 100 young people to gain much-needed resources. We have been truly touched by the support given by businesses and also the appreciation from the schools themselves.

"Myself and all involved would like to send our thanks to everyone who have contributed and for the teams that took to the roads to ensure the resources were in place before the schools closed."

Due to ongoing donations, the teams do have further resources to share with schools and groups supporting young people. For further information on how communities can access stationery for young people in need of support please contact Fay Winterburn on faywinterburn@warwickhire.gov.uk or for businesses wanting to support schools further please contact cwcareers@cwlep.com

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