‘the money’s great’, but the big thing they [the girls] need is an opportunity,” Treacy says. The girls from that orphanage — all 13 of them, aged 5 to 15 — now go to Arrows’ offices to learn skills in technology, marketing, design, sales, and so on, but also to get a taste of working life. They will do so for at least two years.
The orphans might not have otherwise not been able to access such work experience. “When I was looking for work experience as a kid,” Treacy explains, “my parents would have been able to help me, or they’d be able to say ‘Oh, I’ve got a friend, you can go for a week’s work and sit in an office and do a bit of admin’. They [the orphans] have got no one to help them.” Increasing the urgency of the orphans’ plight is a looming deadline: when they turn 18, the girls have to leave the orphanage. In some cases, they can go to halfway houses, but they still have to work, which is “very difficult” to find. “So our idea is if we get them experience, even if they don’t work for us, they can then go out and work with our clients or they can at least say they’ve worked for an international company… that’s going to be a lot more powerful than them going out and saying I’ve done well in my education but I haven’t got a job.” As Arrows head of marketing Ash Bakrania points out, the job market in India is highly competitive; even for young people with a roof over their heads and family connections, it is tough to find a job. Kids without that stand no chance, he says. Along with the skills Arrows is helping these girls
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to build, the experience is also growing their personal confidence. Treacy says a “big thing” for the girls is just getting the train to the Arrows office and understanding what actually going to work means. The actual work the girls do within Arrows is classed as volunteer work, but all will be awarded a certificate at the end to prove what they have done. In addition, Arrows has set up an e-volunteering programme whereby anyone from around the world can volunteer to help the girls via videocalling platform Skype and, one hour at a time, help them with their English or any other skills to increase their employability. “So we’re not trying to change the world but everybody can help somebody and if we can help one person gain employment, that would be a great thing… it would be a bonus if we can do lots and lots.” Some Arrows staff have taken on the volunteering spirit — “quite a big thing in India”, Bakrania explains — by independently developing and putting on courses for the girls, focusing on areas such as interview techniques. Arrows has extended its support to some 18-year-olds who have left Udayan Care’s orphanage, by also helping them with interview skills. This is 'project one' for the Arrows Foundation and it will consider scalability. Both Treacy and Bakrania make it clear the effort is not just an Arrows-specific project either, saying they have already got some of their customers wanting to get involved. “The more the merrier,” Treacy says. The ideal situation, they said, is to sustain an orphanage long term. Initially, it is focusing on raising £10k to sustain this particular one for one year. Of what they raise, 90% goes directly to the girls, to cover costs such as food, clothing, education and counselling. The first money-raising challenge will see an Arrows team scale Mont Blanc in France next summer. They are also considering implementing a voluntary salary sacrifice scheme for staff. ●
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