November 2013: The renowned Kids Read programme sees HSBC and the British Council UAE host an uplifting event at British Council Dubai on Saturday 30th November 2013. Children and their parents will be entertained and educated through vibrant reading sessions and arts and crafts workshops and other literary-driven sessions, all as part of a series of ongoing Kids Read events for 2013.
Already in its third year, Kids Read is a holistic programme which is opened to the public and exclusively sponsored by HSBC Bank Middle East & Affiliates and developed by the British Council to deliver storytelling, teacher training, competitions, events and additional literary resources to children and their families. Currently held in nine countries across the Middle East and North Africa, Kids Read sees volunteers offer their time, skills and expertise to encourage children to read for pleasure, both inside and outside the classroom. In addition, parents are encouraged to attend workshops on how to help their children foster a love for reading that can be carried through the rest of their lives.
Clare Grundy for the British Council says, “The British Council is admired worldwide for its strong focus on education and its desire to develop young people. As part of our passion to drive education, we recognise that reading is incredibly beneficial to our children's progress, not only academically, but socially as well. We are honoured to partner with an institution such as HSBC on a project of this nature.”
Kids Read events focus on diverse topics throughout the year. The theme of this event is volunteerism and helping others, values which reflect the spirit of citizenship celebrated on UAE National Day.
For exclusive sponsor HSBC, involvement in a project of this nature is beneficial to achieving its aims of sustainability and socio-economic development. This year more than 20 HSBC staff members have donated their personal time, knowledge and expertise to encourage reading for pleasure amongst children and their families.
“Investing in the community, particularly through education, is an important element of HSBC's sustainability strategy. We are proud that in 2013, HSBC committed US$120 million to community investment globally and our employees volunteered over 260,000 work hours. We have been the exclusive sponsors and active partners of the Kids Read programme since its inception in the Middle East and hope to continue our affiliation. Engaging our colleagues has allowed the program to spread organically and has helped them understand our responsibilities to our communities and our children ." says Ammar Shams, Regional Head of Corporate Sustainability- HSBC Bank Middle East Limited.
For Kids Read 2013, HSBC volunteers have immersed themselves in aspects such as logistics, administration, event management, arts workshops, and reading and storytelling to help make the programme a success.
Kids Read received the 2012 silver Stevie Award for Corporate Social Responsibility Programme of the Year (Middle East and Africa). The programme has been running for three years and over 5500 children in the UAE have benefitted from Kids Read to date..
“By encouraging our children to read, we not only help to grow their academic abilities but we can help them achieve self-confidence, independence and social awareness. Investing in youth is the only way to ensure a prosperous future for all.” adds Clare Grundy.
The Kids Read event will be held at the British Council in Dubai on Saturday 30th November 2013 from 3pm – 6pm. You can register your kids to attend the event through www.britishcouncil.org/ae