THE team from the Amazon fulfilment centre in Tilbury is taking part in Amazon’s global campaign to address growing education inequalities[1] as a result of COVID-19.
Employees at the fulfilment centre have been packing thousands of literacy packs to be distributed to schools across Essex as part of Amazon Reads, Amazon’s global effort to support primary school children (aged 5 – 11) with better access to basic education, specially focused on literacy.
By April 2020, school closures due to lockdowns during the pandemic had affected almost 1.6 billion children[2] and young people across the world, highlighting the ever-growing education gap facing children in poverty. The Amazon Reads programme aims to raise greater awareness of these issues, while also raising funds to support literacy charities in the UK and beyond.
Carlos Guijarro Benito, General Manager at Amazon in Tilbury, said: “At Amazon, we are committed to supporting the educational needs of children and hope that Amazon Reads will provide a helpful resource to young readers. We are delighted to support the programme and we hope it gives the young readers in our community a boost.”
As part of Amazon Reads, the company has also made a £50,000 donation to National Literacy Trust, an independent UK charity working with schools and communities to give disadvantaged children the literacy skills to succeed in life.
The Amazon Reads campaign also invited employees from Amazon in Tilbury to take part in a national competition to design a bookmark.
Amazon Reads is one of a number of ways in which Amazon is supporting communities across the UK during COVID-19.
Amazon is providing students from underrepresented communities with online STEM courses as well as teaming up with charity partner Magic Breakfast and delivering more than four million healthy breakfasts to families around the UK.
