An innovative 5 year Industry | School | Charity Partnership agreed
On Monday 2nd April 2012 a group of 20 students from The Cooper School, based in Bicester, Oxfordshire embarked upon an adventure to the Isle of Wight to spend a week with the UKSA, the United Kingdom Sailing Academy, as a result of the money raised by Zeta Compliance Group plc.
Last July, a team of 13 employees from Zeta completed the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money to give children from the local area the opportunity to experience what the UKSA have to offer. UKSA is a registered charity based on the Isle of Wight that works to change the lives of young people through maritime training and experiences. The charity has enhanced the lives of many young people with results such as improved school results, attendance, behaviour and active lifestyles. The three peaks challenge involves climbing the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales, the team completed this gruelling task and faced difficult weather conditions, blisters and traffic jams and raised £2653.50 which was matched by Zeta to total: £5,317.00.
Before setting off for the Isle of Wight, two of the intrepid Three Peaks Team visited the Cooper School to meet the pupils who will be benefiting from their efforts and presented the school with a cheque. The group of students gave the Zeta employees a warm welcome and were extremely excited about their upcoming adventure. The pupils are a mixture of girls and boys from years seven to ten and are quickly forming new friendships and were keen to share their feelings on their upcoming experience: three friends, Michael Walker, Connor Lancaster and Joe Turner, all from year seven, told Zeta that they are all very excited about the whole experience and are looking forward to being on the sea and having a fun time together. Holly Martin from Year nine said, “I am so excited as I have never been on the water before and I love physical activities”. Josh Rowland, also from year seven expressed that he is very much looking forward to going to the Isle of Wight as he has never been there before and is looking forward to making new friends.
The pupils will be accompanied by two members of staff, one of whom is Mr. Steven Payne who teaches Design and Technology and has some experience on the water as he is a keen sailor himself. Mr Payne said, “I am very much looking forward to sharing this experience with the children and the UKSA offer many, multi-sport activities which offer fantastic opportunities for the pupils.” Mr. Steve Cooke from Cooper School, who has worked closely with Zeta and UKSA with the organisation of the event, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the help and support of Zeta Compliance Group plc and we look forward to working with them in the future.” Zeta have embarked upon a five year relationship with the charity and the Three Peaks challenge is the first of the fundraising events.
Zeta and UKSA believe in investing in children to give them opportunities to challenge themselves, build their confidence and to offer them experiences which will help with their overall development, future employability, interview and career success.
The pupils set off at 9am on Monday 2nd April 2012 and Zeta wish them a safe and exciting trip.
UKSA would like to invite interested media contacts to distribute this article and/or come and visit our premises.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For more information please contact:
Mark Sutcliffe 07920 112752 mark.sutcliffe@uksa.org
1.United Kingdom Sailing Academy Cowes www.uksa.org
UKSA is a registered charity that is committed t changing the lives of everyone it works with through its maritime training and experiences. The impact comes from a combination of basics: good food, hard work, excellent role models in the teachers and an action packed week’s activity. These range from dragon boat racing, canoeing and sailing, to fun evening activities all within the safe culture and boundaries of UKSA.
UKSA is a globally recognised professional training establishment, training in water sports and yachting to the highest level.
Mark Sutcliffe, Director of Maritime Fund Raining for UKSA says:
“I have been involved with UKSA for over ten years and having seen the children go through and having read hundreds of thank you letters; I know it makes a real impact. We can’t wait to deliver this to the children of Bicester and give them a life changing week.”
1.The Cooper School http://www.cooper.oxon.sch.uk
In September of 2011 the school will take children from 11 all the way through to 18 years of age to anticipate Bicester’s planned growth. A £4.4m state-of-the-art Six Form Centre, additional Specialist Science laboratories and Engineering facilities have all been delivered. The new 6th form is already oversubscribed. The could be a result of the recent outstanding status from the May 2011 Ofsted inspection.
1.Zeta Compliance Plc www.zetaplc.com
Zeta Compliance Group Plc provides produts, services and technologies to enable organisations to ensure that they systematically meet their environmental, health and safety obligations. The group is built up of two main subsidiary companies:
Zeta Compliance Services
Our intelligent compliance services enable us to help businesses identify and minimise risk, remove unnecessary costs and improve compliance performance. Our principle compliance service areas include:
Water ∙ Air ∙ Fire ∙ Carbon and Technology ∙ Business Continuity
Zeta Compliance Technologies
Zeta utilises the power of contemporary computing and communication technologies through ZetaSafe® online compliance system to optimise staff productivity. The web-based solution accurately and efficiently captures, stores and analyses data obtained from routine testing of assets in field. Adopting best practice in compliance management benefits the whole maintenance regime, enabling a safer and more certain working environment for organisations and their employees.
