COPAN and Peter Pan project: Daniele fable come true
“All you need is faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust.”
Perhaps these are ingredients that created the Copan "gene". The employees of this family business in Brescia, leader in the biomedical sector, describe it as such; as if it were a gene, an inborn identity, that set of values found within their society. From the worker in production to the highest managerial position, each person feels as though they are a part of a family and not of an industry, sharing not only objectives but also values, exemplified by the benefiting of some welfare and provision of singular advantages. One in particular seems like almost a small "Never land": inside Copan, there is a place where employees' children can play and grow thanks to an association founded within the company. It's no coincidence that this reality is called "Peter Pan". This association, highly sought after by the owners of the group, Daniele and Stefania Triva, was inaugurated in 2010 with the intention of “encouraging their workers to have children, as in Italy this seems to be a luxury”, says Paola Carozza, psychologist and coordinator of the Peter Pan Association. “Here in Copan, our employees-parents work serenely. It's what we want but mostly what our owners want, who care about our well-being.” A stark contrast to the companies that discredit women as possible future mothers and those prevent parents from care for their children due to abnormal timetable (sometimes underpaid), this unique childcare service has made its way, awarded in 2013 by the Lombardy Region and managed entirely by Copan’s employees. From the operators, who take care of these (never) "lost Boys", which regularly follow continuous refresher courses, up to the management of exchange control for children, the whole association is followed and monitored by the workers of the company for the workers of the company. Yvonne Ricchiedei, who has worked as a shift worker since the late 1990s, has been following the children of her colleagues since the beginning of 2010, followed by Laura and other girls. Even now she hugs and kisses "her" children, who pretend to stay with her when it's time to go home. “When I retire, I will come here as a volunteer,” she confesses, “Stefania and Daniele Triva have given us so much, we must reciprocate with the same love.” The association, due to the increase of the children of the employees, has expanded its duties as a mother spreads her arms to her son who goes towards her: at first there were five babies, between 8 and 9 months, then there was the need (and the intention) to extend the area for the children of the "maternal", after 3 years, even to the service of summer also for children up to 16 years, the same born with the association which have been able to grow together and feel part of this fairytale-like community. The children of "Peter Pan" also have activities and services that many kindergartens see only in the catalogs: Yoga for children, cooking workshops, psychomotricity, orthotherapy, pre-literacy, introduction to music, aquatics, manual laboratories, changes, sheets and wipes for each child, with reserved beds, surveillance cameras and an active service from 5:30 am to 22:00. And in mid-September, when schools open and some of them come back to reality, there's a big party complete with "diplomas". All this was possible thanks to the small contribution that parents pay, since 70% of the cost is borne by the same Triva family. This is their promise kept at the time of the foundation of the association, when Daniele Triva, then CEO of the Copan group, imagined and realized this project. Precisely for this reason, the name "Peter Pan" was dedicated to him, an eternal young dreamer, whose genius allowed Copan to change the world of the pre-analytic. After his unfortunate passing, it was feared that this project would hit the entire company from the socio-economic point of view. However, "dreams come true, if we just want it enough". As the operators say: "The sons of Peter Pan are the heart of the company, they are the little angels to whom Daniele would have liked to leave this visionary future. their wings to fly.” Copan continues to grow thanks to the company's "Trilly", Stefania Triva, sister of Daniele, and thanks also to Giorgio Triva, the first son of Daniele as well as to all the other members of the Triva family, who took charge of this burdensome and honorable inheritance. Thanks to them, the company and its Peter Pan continue to fly. Higher and higher.
Tribute prepared by Elisa Erriu