Lancôme have joined forces with the National Literacy Trust to create a new programme tackling illiteracy in young women. The UK’s shocking stats show that 9% of young women aged 16-24 are affected by illiteracy and 14% lack basic literacy skills. These problems usually stem from low pay, and unemployment.
Words For Work: Women in Leadership was launched this week in London with help from NLT’s Fiona Evans, actor Kate Winslet and writer Chidera Eggerue, as part of Lancôme’s global campaign Write Her Future. The global campaign aims to tackle the literacy crisis that affects over 76 million young women. The partnership will last for at least three years, in three schools for the first year, in three cities- London, Nottingham and Manchester.
Fiona Evans of the National Literacy Trust spoke about the programme:
“Thousands of young women leave school every year without the literacy skills they need to succeed. As a result, these young women will find it hard to get a job and will be more likely to live in poverty. We are thrilled to be working with Lancôme to transform the futures of hundreds of young women by giving them the literacy skills, confidence and inspiration they need to achieve their potential in the workplace.”
Kate Winslet, ambassador for Lancôme, said
“Reading and writing, for most of us, is as natural as breathing. But for one out of every seven women in the UK it is not. Lancôme and the National Literacy Trust want to help disadvantaged women to be able to communicate effectively, and help them to secure their first jobs. This is one of the reasons why I appreciate the relationship I have with Lancôme as, together, we share a deep-rooted desire to support women in being able to fulfil their hopes and dreams, and their individuality. This is our shared vision of empowerment.”
The initiative hopes to achieve a lot within the first year. Their plan is to work with young women aged 16-20 years in schools throughout London, Manchester and Nottingham to “promote workplace literacy through teacher-led workshops on areas including writing a CV, writing and delivering a speech, and exploring what leadership looks like to women; a visit to Lancôme’s offices; and talks from a panel of inspiring women in leadership roles.”
Words For Work: Women in Leadership is part of Write Her Future, the global literacy campaign, that tackles illiteracy affecting 76 million women worldwide.
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Well done Lancome. I have one query though, the last line of the first paragraph states, “These problems usually stem from low pay, and unemployment.” – surely these are the outcomes of illiteracy?