Fuji Sponsors PrintIT! Campaign For Second Year

Fuji, has lent its support to the PrintIT! educational campaign for the second year running by again being a sponsor, providing financial aid and prizes.

Fuji, has lent its support to the PrintIT! educational campaign for the second year running by again being a sponsor, providing financial aid and prizes.

Fuji's managing director, Keith Dalton, said he hopes Fuji can also become involved in supporting the UK venture in other ways.

Dalton commented: "When it comes to finding the workforce of the future, everyone in the industry faces the same challenge, whether they are a manufacturer or supplier, conventional or digital printer or trade house.

Until the creation of PrintIT! the industry had suffered from being too inward looking, generally ignoring future employees - today's youngsters.

As an industry we need to spread the good word about print and the PrintIT! initiative has tackled this problem head on with fantastic results." He continued: "To begin a project like this from scratch and generate such a level of interest amongst schools throughout the country that nearly 23,000 youngsters are prepared to work hard to create entries for the competition is a staggering achievement.

By being involved in PrintIT! these youngsters, and their teachers, have been exposed to a huge range of areas relating to print - the technology, how it fits in to society and how it enables sectors such as publishing, advertising, direct mail and marketing to exist." He believed that the first year was just the beginning and Fuji saw the need to continue and expand the success of PrintIT.

Dalton explained: "With skill requirements changing at an ever faster pace it is essential that we attract entrants of the right calibre in a wide range of fields.

The modern printer is not a manufacturer but a service provider, utilising a huge range of skills that encompass levels of IT that are as advanced as those employed in any market.

When we reach a stage where it is not a conversation stopper to say you work in the printing industry, I think PrintIT! will have reached a milestone in educating people." As in the first year, the Fairtrade Foundation will provide the theme of the competition in which participating schools must create a comprehensive 'print-centric' campaign to support the promotion of Fairtrade fruit.

This year, however, the new PrintIT! competition has been extended to include Year 10 students (aged 15-16) in the first year of their product design GCSE, as well as for GCSE graphic products.

Further improvements include a new student workbook incorporating changes based on feedback from participating teachers last year, as well as a new CD-Rom (donated by the Belmont Press), the 'print companion', which takes the student on a virtual tour of a typical printing house, outlining every stage of production in detail, complementing the existing Printdynamics, provided by Polestar.

The PrintIT! 2 competition will consist of seven categories, which is fewer than last year to enable a greater focus on the core objectives of the programme - to educate and inform the students about the attractiveness of a career in print, said the organisation.

John Brazier, chief executive of Picon, said: "The PrintIT initiative receives support in many different ways from a great number of people but I have to express an extra vote of thanks and gratitude to our sponsors like Fuji, which donate a significant amount of money so that the campaign can continue.

Without the huge generosity of these key industry players PrintIT! would not exist in the form that it does and the industry would not benefit from the exposure it is getting in the outside world.

We all gain from the support given by these companies." The teachers' pack will be distributed in the first two weeks of September and entries must be received by Picon by December 21.

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