Patronage over cultural and sports events

For many years now, culture and education have been the main priorities of the bank’s sponsorship initiatives. The bank is focused on long-term projects, important for communities, which are remembered for long because of exceptional aesthetic experience, emotions or knowledge acquired during such events. We are particularly committed to initiatives that facilitate access to culture and engage people at risk of being excluded from this domain of life.

In 2016, the Santander Orchestra recorded their first album with the compositions of Frederic Chopin and Antonín Dvořák. The concert promoting the album was performed in the National Philharmonic in Warsaw and is currently available on a CD and on the most popular digital music platforms, such as Spotify.

The exhibition was held in the main building of the National Museum in Wrocław and the presented works were borrowed from the National Museum in Warsaw, museums in Budapest and Berlin.

The exhibition was accompanied by a series of lectures, workshops for children and curator-guided tours. Over two months, the exhibition was visited by around 30,000 people.

The festival events were held in four cities in Poland; the main events were in Łódź, with others in Częstochowa, Rawa Mazowiecka and Ożarów.

Ms. Eva Rubinstein and Ms. Alina Rubinstein, the daughters of Arthur Rubinstein were the distinguished guests of honour, while the honorary patrons were – the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda and his wife.

The teams competed in three tournaments forming the preliminary round in a round-robin format, where every team plays every other team. Two tournaments played in September and October in Radom selected the eight best teams.

The final, Cup Tournament was held in November in Warsaw. The Polish Champion 2017 cup went to Balian Wielkopolska Chrzypsko Pniewy, who in the finals won with the Flying Wings Rzeszów 44:42. Third place was awarded to the Four Kings from Warsaw.

This event was accompanied by a social campaign “You only see the wheelchair”, which was meant to make people aware that a disability need not be an obstacle to being successful in sports.

We often engage in cultural initiatives, especially if they fit into the “barrier-free” category.

Thanks to our partnership with the Katarynka Foundation we became the patron of an event, during which people visiting the New Horizons Cinema in Wrocław between 10 September and 31 December 2017 could watch movies with subtitles for the deaf and audio descriptions.

Photography by Łukasz Fijałkowski

In 2017, we continued our collaboration with the Academy for Integration Foundation supporting the organisation of the educational fencing events – Passion, Integration and Security for children and youth in schools in Poland.

What does it mean to be disabled? Can you be an outstanding athlete in a wheelchair? Can someone without hands still drive a car” These are only some of the questions asked by children during these meetings.

These events fulfil several objectives. Paralympics, who are full of passion and socially active, inspire, entertain and teach how to understand people with disabilities, and at the same time encourage young people to take a fresh look at the disabled without the socially imposed and reinforced stereotypes. These meetings are also an opportunity to address other important issues, such as safety, empathy, integration and believing in yourself.