Our Education Liaison function has built up extensive links with 95 local secondary schools, colleges and primary schools in the communities around our Alderley Park site.

Under this programme, which is closely co-ordinated with our Macclesfield site, school activities are supported both financially and more importantly, practically, by use of our facilities and staff time to encourage students, particularly in the areas of science which are critical to a prospering global pharmaceutical industry.

Highlights include our annual calendar competition. Over 3,000 children from primary schools in the Macclesfield and Congleton area entered the competition to produce the 2003 calendar. They were asked to submit a picture for each month, illustrating the theme of 'Safety: Any Time, Any Place, Anywhere'.

Local schoolchildren visit our Avlon site for a variety of activities, designed to enrich their studies.

We have an Education Liaison Officer working in the local community to promote links with the schools, co-ordinating - for example - work experience placements, visits to the Avlon site and participation in artwork projects.

In the summer, groups of primary school children visit the site's Hook Farm Conservation Area to take part in activities designed to increase their understanding and appreciation of wildlife.

In 2003, we will increase our involvement with Marlwood School at nearby Alveston by supporting its bid for science status and becoming the major sponsor for this initiative.

Through a programme of education liaison activities, our Brixham facility plays an active part in promoting science as a career.

Just some examples of the activities which have been organised are:

• Building strong links with local schools, through visits, talks and the work experience programme.
• A very successful open day, where members of the public could see at first hand the activities of a working laboratory environment on their door step.
  

An active involvement within National Science Year - working as a partnership with other local organisations and charities to put together a programme of events and a competition.

Education liaison at our Charnwood site focuses mainly on supporting and stimulating interest in science in schools and colleges in our local community.

With the aim of maintaining excellence in scientific research and development our objective is to inspire students to study science and go on to pursue careers within the pharmaceutical industry.

AstraZeneca sponsors the CREST awards (Creativity in Science & Technology), a nationally run scheme which offers accreditation at Bronze, Silver and Gold level. Charnwood supports local schools with practical projects that are relevant to the curriculum and show potential for entry into the CREST awards.

Our scientists at Charnwood site work closely with teachers to support learning techniques in the classroom and demonstrate how these techniques are applied in the commercial working environment.

We do this through a wide range of activities including:

• Hosting lessons and practical experiments in schools
• Giving presentations, lectures and seminars to pupils, students and teachers
• Participating in science festivals
• Helping to launch science clubs in schools
• Site visits for students
• Work experience for students
• Site laboratory tours for teachers
• Supporting teachers in lesson planning

Charnwood is also involved in the Right to Read Scheme, a national Business in the Community campaign to promote literacy in primary schools.

In common with other UK AstraZeneca Sites, Macclesfield promotes links with local primary and secondary schools, with universities and other centres for higher education, with staff involved as Link Officers.

We also have graduate recruitment and development programmes for Engineering, Process Engineering and Operations (Manufacturing & Supply). These form part of a company-wide programme. Many staff also fulfil roles as school governors.

We support visits and tours to the site for our Link schools where these assist with practical aspects of course work. We participate in the Modern Apprenticeship scheme, covering mechanical, electrical and instrumentation fields, with experience across a variety of environments in the manufacturing areas.