June 2019
On Friday 21st June, Vauxhall Motors, Costa Coffee and local children’s charity Level Trust teamed up to provide 300 packs of vital learning resources to children in Luton.
With an estimated 45.7% of children in Luton growing up in poverty, this material support is crucial in giving them a level chance in education – and beyond.
Level Trust’s Learn@Home packs are drawstring bags bursting with the things that children need to learn outside the classroom.
Christian Iszchak, Level Trust’s Operations Director, said: “Picking up and practising new skills at home has a huge impact on a child’s success at school.Learn@Home packs are full to the brim with exciting stationery, books and craft materials to help 2-5 year olds develop important skills like reading, writing and crafting as well as making them feel ready for school.”
Vauxhall staff from across the Luton operation were joined by 4 volunteers from the Costa Coffee to help Level Trust create the packs and deliver them to 16 Luton schools. Pupils at each school came to greet the delivery team with beaming smiles.
Christian said: “We are so grateful to Vauxhall Motors and Costa Coffee for their fantastic help, from donating items for the packs, to hosting the packing day and delivering the packs to pupils at their schools. It was teamwork at its very best!
Wendy Chasney, Vauxhall’s Supply Chain Manager, said: “I was fortunate enough to deliver to 7 out of the 16 schools and nursery facilities. It was wonderful to see the faces of the children when they were passed a bag bursting with goodies. It is great that there are charities like Level Trust that support young people, and companies like Vauxhall who allow their employees the time to support the community.”
Jodi Wheatley, Sustainability Manager for Costa Coffee, said: “At Costa Coffee, helping to make sure children have equal opportunities to learn is one of the core principles of our Costa Foundation charity and UK Community Programme. We are proud to collaborate with Level Trust and Vauxhall Motors in supporting children through the charity’s invaluable Learn@Home packs. Our Dunstable-based sustainability team enjoyed a great day volunteering with the teams and found it very rewarding to see how much the children loved their new packs and learning.”
As well as in-kind donations from Vauxhall and Costa, Learn@Home packs are made possible by funding from People’s Postcode Trust, St James’ Place Foundation, Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme and the National Lottery Awards for All grant.