Keventers, the 96-year-old milkshake brand, today announced its support for a new program that trains underprivileged children in essential life skills using the game of tennis. The program, called EduTennis, is operational in two low-income schools, one under a partnership with the Delhi Government.

“The program that Keventers is supporting is called EduTennis, which is an awareness building initiative to empower girls to exercise their agency, learn life skills and access quality education and health, along with other development outcomes listed under the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Agastya Dalmia, Founder-CEO of Keventers and Managing Trustee of the Amba Dalmia Foundation Trust.

The program, operating under the aegis of the Amba Dalmia Foundation Trust, is run for school children aged 14-17 years with the help of trained coaches. “The reason we believe tennis works is because we have found it to be an effective medium to actualise the Sustainable Development Goals, especially around girls empowerment,” said Jaideep Bhatia, co-founder of EduTennis and Hony. Secretary of the International Lawn Tennis Club of India. “We are building out the entire initiative with the vision of quality education and gender equality (SDG 4 and SDG 5) in mind.”

The partnership is part of Keventers’ policy of giving back in order to build back better after the pandemic.

To be a part of the initiative, consumers can donate as little as Rs 5, which can be added to their bill in select Keventers outlets all across India. All funds thus collected will be donated to the cause. 

“The life skills training we give plays an important part in developing an empowered mindset among girls,” said Shivani Singh, EduTennis coach. “We are using children’s interest in the novelty of a sport like tennis to impart valuable lessons in life skills such as critical thinking, communication, and resilience. Girls can use such skills to fend off avoidable disablers such as child marriage and being forced to drop out of school.”

In all, the program teaches 16 essential life skills that are critical to the future of work.