Actions aimed at providing aid, equal opportunities and preventing exclusion

One of the forms of corporate volunteering is the competition „We are close”, addressed to employees working for local communities in their environment, who recognize their needs. As part of the competition, each submitted project, in categories such as ecology, education, sport, culture and art, health promotion, and helping animals, can apply for a grant for implementation from the Pekao Bank S.A. Foundation named after Dr. Marian Kanton. In the 3rd and 4th editions of the competition held in 2021, Bank employees submitted 170 ideas. Grants worth a total of PLN 383,000 were awarded to 86 diverse projects, such as: first aid training, renovation of sports clubs’ training rooms and day care centres, ecological workshops, dance classes for senior citizens and youth, an initiative for the Rural Housewives Association, and organization of a sightseeing trip for the deaf. Another idea for helping and integrating was to organize a theatrical evening for women associated in the Amazon Women Federation. Thanks to the competition, two educational films were also made: training exercises for children in a wheelchair and a video presenting the topic of blood donation and transplantation. Direct beneficiaries of the competition are members of organizations receiving aid, wards of care and educational institutions where volunteer actions are carried out, participants of workshops and classes, members of sports clubs and recipients of educational films. Among them in 2021 were: 255 seniors, 1,493 people with disabilities, 5,090 children and adolescents (in total: 37,061 people). Help under the competition also went to 1,646 animals under the care of shelters. Initiatives were carried out in 60 towns all over Poland, 430 employees acted as volunteers, who worked in total 4,816 hours.

In addition to the „We are close” grant competition, Pekao Bank successfully engages in numerous actions based on the idea of employee volunteering. An example of this is the long-running action of honorary blood donation with the participation of employees. In 2021, mobile blood collections were established for the first time in several locations in Poland. The campaign was co-organized with experts from the Polish Red Cross. To introduce employees to the idea of blood donation, a lecture on blood donation was organized. Employees were provided with educational materials and a publication about honorary blood donors among the bank’s employees. More than 50 litres of blood were collected during actions organized at the Bank’s branches or headquarters (Krakow, Gdansk, Katowice, Warsaw). As a result of the campaign, many people decided to donate blood for the first time in their lives. Debuting in the role of blood donors declared their readiness to continue their commitment to the benefit of patients.

The SOS Children’s Villages Association in Poland has been the Bank’s long-standing volunteer partner. The cooperation includes not only the organization of individual actions, but also competence volunteering. In 2021, the project „First job” was continued – an initiative for the charges of the Association entering adulthood, which consisted in the organization of on-line workshops for a group of 40 people. They covered two topics: „Entering the Job Market” and „Motivation and Your Strengths.” In response to the needs expressed by the youth educators, a thematic workshop on personal finance was organized for those entering adulthood, entitled: „Your money – your business.” Moreover, as part of the annual gift campaigns, donors – bank employees prepared surprises for children and young people on the occasion of Children’s Day and the „Santa Claus Campaign”. In 2021 over 400 packages with gifts were handed over to the wards of care facilities in Biłgoraj and Kraśnik. Representatives of the Polish national men’s basketball team also participated in the final of „Santa Claus Campaign”.

Bank Pekao is also a partner of the Warsaw Institute of Banking in the Bakcyl educational programme. The purpose of the initiative is to provide financial literacy to children and teenagers from schools across Poland. In 2021, 6 bank employees participated in training to prepare for their role as educators in the Bakcyl program. Bank employees as Bakcyl volunteers conducted 77 lessons for children and teenagers.

The educational initiative called SeniorOn was addressed to the representatives of the oldest social group. Since September 2018, the Polish Red Cross has been conducting the SeniorON project, which aims to improve the quality and standard of life of older people and prepare them to age with dignity through social activity. Pekao Bank was invited to cooperate in the project as the main partner. 1945 seniors took part in three editions of the initiative. 96 workshops were conducted, 36 of which were led by volunteers from the Bank. They covered the basics of online banking, security in finance and mobile banking. In 2021, it was 5 educational meetings for a group of 90 seniors.

Moreover, the Bank also supports employee-initiated campaigns of various course and topics. In 2021, they included: a campaign to collect gifts for seniors from the Warsaw DPS (nursing home), participation in an educational campaign against violence organized for youth from Siedlce, a collection of gifts for a kindergarten in Sopotnia Mała, and a campaign to prepare gifts for children from a care centre in Brwinów.

As part of their voluntary activities, the Bank’s employees do not forget about animals shelters. In cooperation with the Society for Care of Animals in Poland, two aid campaigns for the shelter in Celestynow were organized. In the December campaign, volunteers from the bank accepted an invitation from a group of volunteers from PZU and joined forces to help. On the occasion of „Santa Claus in Celestynów” a local collection of donations for animals was conducted, and volunteers took part in minor repair work at the shelter. To promote the idea of adopting homeless animals, the Bank launched a special social media campaign with the slogan „Don’t buy, adopt”. Volunteers with experience in animal rescue operations prepared photo reports and videos to encourage people to take care of abandoned animals. The campaign included an expert lecture for the Bank’s employees, during which everyone could gain knowledge on how to prepare for the adoption of a pet and how to take care of the pet during the first days and months in a new home.

Pekao Group companies also get involved in social activities. In 2021, Pekao TFI employees donated items for the annual charity auction. The funds collected during the auction were donated to selected foundations. At DI Xelion, fundraising for orphanages and educational centres, etc. was held among employees and associates. Financial support for the orphanage was provided by the Card Centre in 2021. In turn, the winners of the integration game – gamification at Pekao Financial Services each month indicated a social benefit organization to which a donation from the management board was directed. Pekao Direct employees got involved in the „Zakrętaki” campaign. As part of it, thanks to financial resources obtained from the recycling of plastic caps, three charges from the Łupkowa Hospice for Children in Łódź received material assistance. Employees of Pekao Faktoring have joined Pekao Bank’s „Sporting Edge of the World” volunteer campaign, donating sports equipment to an elementary school in Rutka-Tartak, Podlaskie Province.