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Sunderland Pupils Get Down To Business…

HUNDREDS of Sunderland school children will be enjoying the first match of the new football season as a reward for taking part in a new business initiative.

Pupils from 17 schools across the borough have been invited to watch Sunderland’s opening Barclays Premier League game of the 2013-14 season against Fulham on August 17, as a thank you for participating in the city’s recent Work Discovery Week (WDW).

The event – set up to forge new relationships between schools in Sunderland and leading businesses across the region – featured a week of activities ranging from careers fairs to visits and workshops.

WDW culminated in a “Dragons’ Den” style presentation by teams from the various schools, who gave their ideas to improve Sunderland’s tourism and retail sectors before a panel of leading experts.

Gary Hutchinson, Commercial Director of SAFC and the co- chair of the Economic Masterplan – Business:Schools Task Group, which came up with the idea of WDW, invited the schools to attend the match as a reward for their endeavours.

And there was even better news for Sunderland’s Portland Academy and Southmoor School – which each won a presentation session – as they will be going as VIP guests to the game.

“The young people were fantastic and not only had to face the daunting task of coming up with some ideas, but then had to present them to a panel of experts and the other schools,” said Gary.

“They did fantastically well and we are delighted to be able to invite them as our guests for all of their hard work.”

Work Discovery Week saw more than 1200 school children participate, with 40 businesses from across the region taking part including main sponsors Nissan, Gentoo, Arriva, The National Apprentice Service, Grundfos, Sunderland University and Sunderland College.

The event was also supported by Sunderland City Council, SAFC and the NECC and was such a success that a date has already been announced to repeat it in 2014.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sorted PR .