Passport to Change will see Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays team up with charity partner WE in an effort to engage more than 1,000 young people at three schools; two in the UK and one in the US.
The programme’s key focus will be on increasing transferable skills arising from STEM teaching such as problem solving, argumentation, critical thinking, creativity, action-planning and leadership.
Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays staff will share their stories and experiences from the world of work via talks, workshops and one-to-one mentoring.
The three schools selected fall into Virgin’s operating “communities”: Thomas Bennett Community College in Crawley; Pentrehafod School in Swansea; and Luther J Price Middle School in Atlanta.
Shai Weiss, Virgin Atlantic chief executive, said: “We are proud to be working with our long-term charity partner WE on Passport to Change and investing in the communities in which we live and work.
“There is a global shortage of Stem skills and we want to help young people build the skills they need for the future while increasing their engagement with these core subjects. In time, we aim to bring Passport to Change to all the communities we work in and fly to.”
Marc Kielburger, co-founder of WE, added: “Virgin Atlantic and WE have been proud partners since 2010. It’s thanks to their support that we could bring WE Schools to the UK, now active in more than 3,000 UK schools. I’m so excited for this next phase of our partnership.
“As well as having a huge impact on the students involved, Passport to Change exemplifies how a charity and corporate partner can truly collaborate to evolve their relationship. Although we’ve been partners for a decade, this is the start of a new beginning for WE and Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays.”
Passport to Change is part of a wider Virgin Atlantic initiative to encourage more women and young people to pursue Stem and aviation careers.
