As part of the “Lyreco For Education’ programme, Lyreco, an international supplier of office products, supports the education of children in developing countries. “The Lyreco For Education programme originated from our belief that education is a strong lever in development. Through Lyreco For Education and the firm actions we take, we commit ourselvesto the long term support of education for children throughout the world” states Eric Bigeard - Lyreco CEO.
Every year, Lyreco For Education supports a project in a different country. In 2009, Lyreco established a partnership with AEA a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) for the development through education to support the education of young children in North Vietnam. This partnership financed a project which supported nursery schools located in the Phu Luong district in North Vietnam enabling a better start in life for these young children. For this occasion, Lyreco called on all its employees, suppliers and customers to join its efforts in raising money for the project and added one extra euro for every euro donated by its employees.
On January 26 2010, at the Lyreco headquarters in Marly, Eric Bigeard officially handed over a cheque of 187,507 euros to Florent Marcoux, AEA Director in France. “We are proud and happy to have joined AEA and therefore ensure a better future for 2,300 Vietnamese children every year. Early 2009, we set an objective to collect 150,000 euros throughout the group. Thanks to the fantastic enthusiasm of our 10,000 employees, we overachieved this amount as everyone got so deeply involved in this fascinating project!” added Eric Bigeard.
As a result of the Lyreco-AEA partnership, 2,300 children aged 0-5 yearsreceive better quality care and education while their families have access to awareness raising activities about the importance of early childhood care and education. At the same time, some one hundred teachers havereceived training on teaching methods, educational themes, nutrition, design of toys etc; 4 nursery schools got newplaygrounds; 20 class have been renovated and equipped with educational kits and toys. In total, by the end of 2010, more than 8,000 families and 32,000 inhabitants will have their lives improved by the awareness raising activities on care and education.
For 2010, Lyreco chose to partner with CARE, an international NGO specialised in fighting global poverty, to support an education project in a poor suburb of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil: Duque de Caxias suffers from significant problems of violence due to frequent armed conflicts and drug trafficking. Absenteeism and drop-out rates in school are very high. The objective is to create an “educating community” that brings together schools, community organisations and children. “We have just presented the 2010 project to our employees who are highly motivated to get involved again!” When asking the Lyreco CEO what Lyreco For Education wants to achieve in 2010, Eric Bigeard answers: “To do even better than in 2009 so we help more and more children!”
About Lyreco for Education
Lyreco for Education supports the education of children throughout the world. Having proper access to schooling ensures that children enter the education system, and benefit from appropriate care and nutrition, giving them a better chance to succeed in life. Lyreco for Education’s mission therefore consists in supporting projects which improve the education of children in developing countries. Each year, Lyreco for Education will support a project in a different country, in partnership with a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) fully dedicated to that cause and selected with the greatest of care. For more information on this fascinating project, visit:
About Lyreco
Lyreco is a leading supplier of office products in the B2B market. The privately-owned company, which was founded in 1926, is based in France, employing about 10,500 people. Worldwide it operates from some 180 locations in 28 countries. In 2008 the company generated sales of € 2.2billion. As well as being market leader in Europe, Lyreco is also present in Canada and Asia-Pacific.
About AEA (Aide et Action)
Since it was founded in 1981, AEA (Aide et Action) has expanded to reach twenty-two countries worldwide located in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Through 120 programmes and with the help of its partners, AEA has improved access to quality education for more than five million children and adults. Officially approved by the French Ministry of Education, AEA works towards a world where dignity is guaranteed to everyone through education and strengthening human development. Free from any political or religious attachments, our commitment to worldwide development issues is founded, above all, on the values of liberty, respect, solidarity, equality and integrity.
About CARE
CARE is an international NGO focused on fighting global poverty and defending dignity and belongs to the 10 biggest NGO specialised in International Solidarity.
CARE works in 70 countries and reaches over 55 Million beneficiaries every year
www.care.org/
PR Contacts
§ Lyreco : Grégory Liénard - +33 3 27 23 64 18