Arco, the UK's leading supplier of personal protection and safety equipment, has opened the doors of its head office in Hull to thirty children from the local David Lister (East & West) Secondary School.
The children aged 12 and 13 will be taking part in the Arco Experience which is organised in conjunction with Hull Children's University v a community scheme that Arco participates in. The Children's University is an innovative and dynamic project that raises children's self-esteem, achievements and learning aspirations through the delivery of literacy focused programmes out of school hours.
The Arco Experience is all about people in the world of work passing on their experiences and expertise to help children get a better understanding of what it is like to work for a company such as Arco.
The learning objectives of the module, which is run one day a week over four weeks, are to give children information about how a commercial business is run and how businesses work within the wider community promoting social, moral and ethical responsibilities.
Arco is dedicated to its Corporate Social Responsibility policy so more specifically the children will learn and understand the issues around the sourcing and supply of goods from other countries and the need for businesses to uphold an Ethical Trading policy.
'We are committed to embedding responsible practice into the business', said Jo Martin, Joint Managing Director of Arco. 'By ensuring that we only source products from companies that respect their employees, their local communities and the environment, we are able to have a real impact.'
Dr John Buttrick from Hull Children's University followed this by saying: 'Children are our future so we should be doing more to help them. Literacy skills are at the core of all we do and we are indebted to companies like Arco who are prepared to share their plans for making a better future for all children.'
Arco and the Children's University's aims are to: encourage self-discipline by holding the sessions in the work place; engage the children in conversation and discussion with adults, improve their speaking and listening skills; provoke thought and a greater understanding of the wider issues involved in business; and empower the children to express what they have understood through drama, workshops, quizzes, art and design.
The end of the Arco Experience will be marked with a display of the children's work and a prize giving at Arco's National Distribution Centre on 7 December 2006.
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