Corporate volunteering

The bank’s corporate volunteering activities are regulated by the Santander Bank Polska Corporate Volunteering Policy which defines the areas of volunteering activities, describes procedures and presents indicators applicable to volunteering. The units responsible for corporate volunteering in the bank are the Santander Bank Polska Foundation and the Public Relations Department, acting in cooperation with the HR unit.

Corporate volunteering is managed by the Santander Bank Polska Foundation. Volunteers of the Santander Bank Polska Foundation are bank employees. To read about the social activities of the bank and the involvement of volunteers read here.

From 1 January 2019, each employee of Santander Bank Polska has 8 hours a year at his/her disposal to spend on volunteering activities within the three areas set out in the Corporate Volunteering Policy:

Number of bank employees involved in volunteering projects

A flower fair during which our employees were able to buy spring flowers and take part in florist workshops allowed to collect PLN 35,000 for rehabilitation of one of the bank employees. The fair was organised in 4 cities: Warsaw, Lublin, Poznań and Wrocław and more than 50 volunteers were involved in its organization.

The action was a continuation of the initiative of the Risk Department in partnership with the Social Home for Intellectually Disabled Children and Youth in Łopienno and consisted in organizing a fundraiser for the expansion of the House. The amount of PLN 15,700 was collected.

The project involved the organization of workshops during which volunteers made heart-shaped pillows for women after mastectomy to which they attached cards with best wishes for the future. The workshops were held in Warsaw, Wrocław and Poznań. The pillows were handed over to the Amazon Club at the Oncology Centre in Warsaw. On the same day, ladies from the Amazon Club carried out a short workshop on breast self-examination for our employees. The idea of the action was very much appreciated and several departments organized it on their own.

The main benefit of this volunteer event was the integration of 48 children from different environments, including the children from the Pryzmat Association in Żary, and infecting them with a passion for fishing. The role of the Santander Bank Polska Foundation volunteers was to prepare a place to play with the children, take care of the children during the event and handle the service of meals.

The project involved renovation of an old, dilapidated room in Lubin and converting it into a café – a meeting place for seniors. Volunteers from the Santander Bank Polska Foundation not only helped with the renovation, but also bought and assembled the furniture. The cafeteria will host various events, educational meetings, including those organised in cooperation with a branch of Santander Bank Polska focusing on cyber security and scams.

A series of 11 symphonic concerts organized all over Poland, during which our volunteers conducted a fundraising for the Polish Association of the Blind. The main goal of the concerts was to increase social sensitivity to the needs of visually impaired people and to familiarize the invited guests with the way the blind and visually impaired experience the world. Therefore, during the performances, the musicians played part of the repertoire without a conductor, not seeing each other and relying solely on hearing. Thanks to the involvement of more than 50 volunteers from the Santander Bank Polska Foundation, PLN 40,000 was raised during the event.

Nearly 50 volunteers from the Santander Bank Polska Foundation, together with the Anna Dymna’s ″Mimo Wszystko″ Foundation, cooperated during the 15th Enchanted Song Festival on the Main Square in Krakow. Their main role was to organize the Outdoor Gallery and the Family Tent. The Santander Bank Polska Foundation has additionally funded six main prizes for the competition winners.

For the second time, the employees of the North Macroregion, together with the Santander Bank Polska Foundation, organised the ″North Helps″ charity event. The event was attended by 500 people – employees, their children and friends. Volunteers of the Santander Bank Polska Foundation and the E. Dudkiewicz Hospice Foundation in Gdańsk took part in a run along the streets of Gdańsk from the headquarters of the North Macroregion to the Hospice. The distance was more than 7 km long and was covered by 280 people.

The project consisted in garden maintenance work carried out in the Royal Łazienki Park. For 5 days, nearly 100 volunteers planted flowers, mowed the grass and cleaned the gardens.

An event during which volunteers of the Santander Bank Polska Foundation and employees of the Central Macroregion of Santander Bank Polska collected 225 kg of waste within 5 hours in the Szachty area of Poznań. The objects they collected could be used to assemble one passenger car, fully furnish a guest room and a bathroom or make a number of interesting art installations. About 100 volunteers from the Foundation participated in this environmental action, including children and residents of the Fabianowo and Świerczewo districts of Poznań.

160 volunteers from the Santander Bank Polska Foundation in cooperation with the Włoszakowice Forest District planted nearly 4 hectares of forest. Two locations were chosen: Krzycko Wielkie and Włoszakowice. As part of the action, foresters organised a short eco-lesson telling the participants about their daily work and how they maintain and protect the valuable forest resources.