OREANDA-NEWS. May 24, 2012. Tata Global Beverages has today launched Tata Global Beverages Re-imagination Scholarships with Brunel University. The scholarships are a first for Tata Global Beverages, the corporate brand behind iconic brands such as Tetley, Eight O’Clock Coffee and Tata Tea. They form part of Tata Global Beverages’ social mobility initiative, which is a long-term commitment to create fairer opportunities for young people to achieve their potential.

The ‘Re-imagination’ scholarships aim to provide financial support to students who are positively shaping their future by studying for degrees at the highly-regarded Brunel University. The campus is a stone’s throw from Tata Global Beverages’ head office in Uxbridge and the university is renowned for incubating creativity and innovation.

The scholarships are available to students who have been part of the esteemed Urban Scholars Programme, which has a strong track record in ’surfacing bubbles of submerged talent’ by raising the aspirations of young people, many of whom come from ‘challenging’ backgrounds.

The Urban Scholars Programme is an intervention programme providing enriched learning experiences for students aged 12 -18, from inner London schools. Many of the students come from socially deprived areas where students’ talents may not lead to successful examination results and high aspirations. The programme generates challenging and enriching experiences for able and potentially able students who need additional opportunities to enhance their academic performance, self-confidence, critical thinking, teamwork, and presentation skills.

Students were asked to submit short essays on their perception of what ’re-imagination’ means, which is Tata Global Beverages’ brand essence. To read the essays that were submitted by winners of the scholarships please visit: http://www.tataglobalbeverages.com/Pages/Media-centre/News.aspx

Percy Siganporia, acting CEO at Tata Global Beverages, said: “At Tata Global Beverages we feel passionately that young people should have fair access to a good education no matter what their background is. We are really proud to launch the scholarships for the Urban Scholars students who are shaping their future and unlocking their true potential. The ‘Re-imagination’ essays were truly inspiring to all of us at Tata Global Beverages.”

As part of its commitment to improving social mobility for young people, Tata Global Beverages has also signed up to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Social Mobility Business Compact in the UK, which aims to ensure everyone has a fair opportunity to fulfill their potential, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Over 130 companies have signed up to the Business Compact so far, including PwC, Microsoft and Morrisons.

Valsa Koshy, professor of education, and director at the Brunel Able Children's Education Centre, concluded: “We set up the Urban Scholars Programme to help young people become more aware of their potential and to develop their multiple talents in order to achieve their best. The partnership we now have with Tata Global Beverages, we hope, will help the scholars broaden their horizons even more. We are very grateful that our ex-scholars who are currently studying at Brunel are recipients of the ‘Re-imagination’ scholarships.”