Children and young people are our future. And in order to secure a good future for both them and ourselves, they need our complete attention and support. At Gira, particular importance is given to learning and education. In this context, we take special care of our trainees, and even support school pupils. Young people are always full of curiosity, have a thirst for learning and love to experiment and discover their environment. All we need to offer them is sufficient incentives and opportunities. The Junior Uni in Wuppertal does exactly this in a specialised and fantastically refreshing way. This educational establishment offers children and young people from the Berg County a wide variety of courses, research projects and age-appropriate classes. It is open to people of all walks of life and is thus particularly aimed at young people from socially disadvantaged environments with potentially lower levels of education. After all, precisely in this area, children and young people should be able to take advantage of attractive offers.

The demand is huge and spots are fully booked. Plans to extend the offer are under way. The young researchers are excited, as are their parents and teachers. "The Junior Uni Wuppertal is an outstanding provision. There, children and young people can learn free from academic constraints, and can discover and enjoy researching and experimenting. This is also important for Gira. After all, we will continue to need highly motivated and well-trained experts in the future," says Martin Brochhaus, Head of Corporate Development. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that Gira supports the Wuppertal-based centre with a great sense of pride and conviction. In 2013, Gira gave the Junior Uni a financial donation well into five figures. Such funding will continue on an annual basis.

Companies in the Berg County also have the opportunity to support the Junior Uni through the provision of courses and events. This is also something that Gira would like to do. We take pleasure in imparting our knowledge to others and awakening young people's interest in technology. We are currently gathering ideas on which courses Gira could offer. "This is clearly something that we benefit from, too. Even the considerations as to which subjects and experiments we could offer let us see our technology and processes from a completely different point of view. This is refreshing and very exciting," says Martin Brochhaus.