Virgin Atlantic today launched a £100,000 charity project to support 1,500 mothers in starting up their own businesses in developing communities. The �Work Wonders’ campaign, created with charity partner Free The Children, will provide women in Kenya, India and China with access to tools and training, enabling them to generate their own incomes.

Thousands of the airline’s staff will be challenged with raising £100,000 via a number of activities over the next 12 months, from organising a cake baking competition, to hosting a charity race night for suppliers, to climbing Mount Fuji.

Steve Ridgway, Chief executive of Virgin Atlantic said: "We have always taken an active role in the sustainability of communities in the developing countries that we fly to. Work Wonders is a fantastic initiative that all of our staff can really get involved in which will allow everyone to work together to make a real difference in these communities."

With most developing communities relying on labour-intensive agriculture for their key source of income, Virgin Atlantic’s project aims to up-skill mothers providing them with resources including sewing machines, bee keeping equipment and livestock.

In addition, the charity will also provide women with financial literacy workshops, business training and �micro’ business loans to provide some financial stability in the longer term. In supporting these initiatives Virgin Atlantic believes that children could be less relied on to contribute to their families’ finances.

Many women residing in Kenya in the Massai Mara generate an annual income of approximately £410. The below figures illustrate just how far these contributions can go;

� £64 will give a mother the means to start a honey business

� £80 will give a mother the means to start a business in dress making

� £33 will give a mother a goat to breed for milk, food and trade.

This project is important to the airline, which believes alternative income initiatives such as these are essential in poverty alleviation. Through these, parents are given the education, skills and tools to sustain their incomes, breaking the cycle of poverty once and for all.

Steve Ridgway said, "My visit to the Kenyan village of Sikirar in February enabled me to witness first hand the benefits campaigns such as this have on the communities involved. It allowed me to see these alternative income projects and how far they go in empowering adults to find more profitable and rewarding work opportunities. I am looking forward to seeing how this project further enables these communities to become more sustainable."

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For further information please contact the Virgin Atlantic Press Office on +441293 747373 or log onto www.virginatlantic.com

Notes to Editors:

Case Study

Selina Kabusia is a 34 year old woman from Sikirar. She is the proud mother of five children and works as both a small scale farmer in addition to taking part in skilled crafts as she loves making traditional Maasai beadwork. A typical day for Selina consists of her household chores such as preparing breakfast for the whole family, milking and grazing cattle, fetching water, and preparing dinner.

Selina is a member of Free The Children's women's groups in Sikirar, where she is learning how to improve her beadwork skills, in turn increasing her household income. With the additional income Selina will save through participating in a women's group, she will be able to buy more cattle to raise and provide for her family so that her children can go to school.

Selina dreams for a future of peace, one where women are empowered to make decisions in their own life. She is already excited about the things she is learning in the women's groups;

"I hope for my children and my family to have enough resources to help themselves. We were recently trained on beadwork and this has really helped me in improving my beadwork skills so I can make quality bead products. This will boost out alternative income activities that revolve around beadwork."

About Free The Children

Free The Children is the world's largest network of children helping children through education, with more than one million youth involved in innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded in 1995 by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has a proven track record of success. Through the energy and passion of youth, Free The Children has built more than 650 schools around the world, providing education to over 55,000 children every day. The organization has received the Rights Award from the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, and has formed successful partnerships with leading school boards and Oprah’s Angel Network. For more information please visit www.freethechildren.com.For more information please visit www.freethechildren.com.

The airline is working with them over the next three years in supporting their primary goal of being to free children from poverty and exploitation as well as freeing young people from the idea that they are powerless to bring about positive social change.

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