Auchan Education Campaign Raises €20k for SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde

The education campaign organised by Auchan this year from 4-22 September has raised €20,000 for SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde.  

Following the campaign held in Auchan Kirchberg and Auchan Differdange, as well as in the boutiques of the Kirchberg and Opkorn shopping centres last month, the organisers presented SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde with a cheque for €20,000 to help with the non-profit association's provision of emergency education in the Middle East.

The management of Auchan Kirchberg, where the first solidarity partnership was launched between Auchan and SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde ten years ago, welcomed Sophie Glesener, director of the charity, and Anne Schweizer, head of partnerships, before a second meeting in Differdange took place.

Welcoming the sustainability of this education campaign, Sophie Glesener spoke about the programme set up in the Bekaa plain in Lebanon for children and young people (aged 4-21), mostly out of school, affected by the Syrian crisis with the opening in late November of a large centre for education and vocational training. Whilst awareness activities and information sessions have already started, the centre will offer literacy, e-learning, psychosocial support or technical training for future professions such as sustainable agriculture. 770 young Syrian refugees, vulnerable Lebanese youth and their parents or guardians are concerned.

Sophie Glesener also expressed her gratitude to the director of the various Auchan supermarkets and shopping centres "for the beautiful generosity they have shown again this year", adding that "ensuring access to education for children in emergencies is, alongside their protection, our priority."