Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo endorses career guidance on Children’s Day

Wednesday, 16 October 2013 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The CSR team of Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo together with the John Keells Foundation celebrated Children’s Day in a very special way on 1 October. Over 60 students from neighbouring schools; Al Iqbal Balika Vidyalaya, T.B. Jayah Maha Vidyalaya and Sri-Sariputhra Maha Vidyala visited Cinnamon Lakeside on the invitation of the hotel’s General Manager Denis Gruhier.

While students were treated to delicious snacks and gifts, the motive of this gathering was also to inculcate the importance of career planning at an early age. Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has seen tremendous growth in the recent years and the opportunities for rewarding careers in this industry are manifold. Speaking at the event, Gruhier emphasised the significance of building ambitions for the future and also the many benefits of starting a career in the hospitality industry. The students also listened ardently as he went on to accentuate the need to break barriers set against females entering the hospitality industry in the country. Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo Training and Development Manager Priyankara Sumanapalage also addressed the gathering of students from diverse religions and backgrounds and educated them on the importance of eradicating racial discrimination at school and in the workplace. The knowledge shared with these students on this Children’s Day will be invaluable in creating responsible and respectful future leaders. Furthering its community development commitments, Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo recently took in five school leavers from various schools in Slave Island to intern in different departments at the hotel. Spearheading this initiative is John Keells Foundation Head of

Operations CSR Carmeline Jayasuriya who shared that this service is being rendered to uplift and empower the youth of the area by providing them with the foundation needed to jump start their careers after having completed their O/Ls. The interns aged between 17-18 years, were also present at the Children’s Day celebrations and shared their experiences training at Cinnamon Lakeside. Addressing the gathering of students, Muditha Chathuranga praised the management for giving him an opportunity of a life time, to be a part of the best five star hotel in the country. Muditha also encouraged the young students to build a vision for the future and endorsed that the community internship program initiated by Cinnamon Lakeside would help them take that first step towards brighter prospects.