Winter 2006/2007 Newsletter
05/01/2007
Future first - HSBC Partnership
In November 2006, HSBC Education Trust announced a five year partnership with SOS Children’s Villages to reduce child poverty as part of Future First, the trust’s new global initiative.
The programme will benefit thousands of orphaned, abandoned and destitute children in the 47 countries in which both organisations have a common presence. HSBC has pledged USD one million per year to SOS Children’s Villages UK for five years (2007 - 2011). These donations will be used to support SOS education, community development and family strengthening programmes.
The project will target street children and those for whom poverty deprives them of an education and the chance to become contributing members of society.
Dame Mary Richardson, Chief Executive of the HSBC Global Education Trust, said of the partnership, “We think this is going to make a measurable difference in the lives of some of the most marginalised and impoverished members of society. HSBC believes financial institutions have a role to play in helping to integrate youth from disadvantaged backgrounds into the fabric of society, not only to improve the quality of their lives, but also so they can be fully active citizens who contribute to the economic prosperity of their local communities”
Background to the partnership
The relationship between SOS Children’s Villages and HSBC began in early 2005, following the Asian tsunami disaster in December 2004. The HSBC Education Trust is currently supporting the costs of a community centre at Peraliya, Sri Lanka, which will provide young children with a high-quality nursery education and their parents with skills training in order to obtain employment and support their families; financial independence of the family therefore lessening the risk of child abandonment.
The partnership between HSBC and SOS Children’s Villages developed further following the devastating earthquake that ripped through Kashmir on 8 October 2005. To ensure Kashmiri children are able to continue with their education, SOS Children is constructing three schools - one primary and two single-sex secondary schools. Construction costs for the primary school have been generously provided by The HSBC Education Trust.
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