11 February 2016
Announcement
- In 2015 Slovenská sporiteľňa and its Foundation supported 260 projects throughout Slovakia
- The greatest support was given to projects that focused primarily on education, culture, sport and social assistance
„The mission of our Bank as well as that of the entire Erste Group is to help people in this region to live better lives. This guides us not only in our daily banking, but also in our foundation and sponsoring activities. Therefore, we return a part of our profit to the society in which we operate and we are proud to say that once again this year we have ranked among the largest corporate philanthropists in Slovakia,“ said Štefan Frimmer, the Head of Communication & Sponsoring Division at Slovenská sporiteľňa.
Financial education is our long-term priority
Based on its leading position in the banking market, Slovenská sporiteľňa naturally feels its responsibility in this area. For this reason it has invested almost €227,000 in financial education. In 2015, Know Your Money continued its successful run for the sixth year. Organised by the Bank in cooperation with the Children of Slovakia Foundation, Know Your Money is a project intended for children and students that focuses on developing their financial literacy. The cooperation with Junior Chamber International brought a new project called Idea Turned into Success, comprising a series of lectures for university students. Likewise, it is the second time that the Bank has supported the education project Teach for Slovakia which focuses on retaining the most talented university graduates. In 2015 the Bank supported the pilot year of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award in Slovakia.
Banking services also for the „nonbanking“ population
In 2015 the Bank started to develop exceptional programmes with the aim of providing banking services to people and groups who do not have adequate access to them. The reason is primarily their potential to create jobs and reduce unemployment and poverty in Slovakia. Within its special programmes, Slovenská sporiteľňa offers start-uppers not only financial help, but also feedback and mentoring. Moreover, the Slovenská sporiteľňa Foundation recognises innovative ideas in their early stages by means of the Social Impact Award. In other programmes, Slovenská sporiteľňa focuses on education and funding of the non-profit sector.
Promotion of culture in regions throughout Slovakia
In 2015, Slovenská sporiteľňa again supported the leading Slovak theatre groups, such as Štúdio L+S, Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra and the Slovak Chamber Theatre in Martin. Furthermore, it also supported exceptional music festivals such as Viva Musica, Bratislava Jazz Days, Grape and Pohoda.
In total, the Slovenská sporiteľňa Foundation supported projects in the amount of almost €760,000
In 2015, the Slovenská sporiteľňa Foundation implemented programmes that support sports talents, community and employee projects.
- In the programme Municipalities Closer to You, the Foundation provided €70,000 for the improvement of natural environment, organization of cultural events and restoration of monuments. The year saw 214 applicants, with funds distributed among 17 projects.
- In 2015 the grant programme Football That’s the Game! was announced for the fifth time. The programme focuses on the development of youth football clubs in Slovakia. A newly introduced online voting attracted great public interest. More than 110,000 people voted in just one month. The Foundation thus continued the tradition from previous successful years, during which it has supported 149 clubs with the amount of over €472,000.
- For six years now, the Bank has been supporting a unique project of multifunctional sports fields at schools in Slovakia. In 2015 two new sports fields were built in Bardejov and Ružomberok, thus joining the existing twenty-two, in a total value of €100,000.
- Furthermore, there were two smaller grant programmes focusing on education: university students could help their school by participating in the programme Support Your School with an Idea and selected teams gained financial help under the project Support for Disabled Athletes.
- Euro to Euro is a special programme intended for employees of the Bank who know of a good project and who are also involved in it in some way. In 2015 the Bank supported 58 projects, some of which were chosen by the Bank’s employees through voting. For the first time the employees could support the projects not only financially, but also participate as volunteers.