Social involvement pillars

Local communities of the areas neighbouring with our plants are at the centre of our social responsibility activities. We actively support those around us by ensuring high quality of production processes, caring for the environment and providing jobs. In the reporting period, our companies were not engaged in any activities that could have a negative impact on local communities, which is validated by our record free of any complaints. FFIL ŚNIEŻKA SA conducted a stakeholder mapping exercise. The plans of engaging the stakeholders into joint actions have been included in the Employer Branding strategy developed in 2017. The strategy involves actions addressed not only to employees, but also to local communities. The implementation of these assumptions was scheduled for 2018-2019, and some activities also for 2020.

For over ten years now we have actively created signature social initiatives, in the form of programs and projects, both on a local and nationwide scale. The directions of actions defined in the social responsibility policy set the framework for the design and implementation of those activities.

We define the main pillars of the Śnieżka Group social commitment as follows:

Key social activities performed by the Śnieżka Group companies in the reported period:

Original programs

„Children’s world in colours”

“Children’s world in colours” social program has been carried out for 14 years. During this time, 30 children's hospital wards throughout Poland have been renovated and artistically repainted. In the reported period, we thoroughly renovated one children's ward in the Health Care Facility in Dębica. This time, the activities undertaken by Śnieżka included not only preparing, painting and decorating the surface of the walls, but also replacement of door woodwork or installation of guards. The walls of the ward were provided with colourful motifs referring to the rich history of the Dębica region. In addition, as part of this edition, a children's corner was created, which we financed by rewarding the involvement of our employees in one of the internal projects - thanks to which each member of our team had the opportunity to support the ward. Over 650 people from Śnieżka got involved in the undertaking. The ceremonial presentation of the renovated ward was held on June 18, 2019. The renovation works in the hospital in Dębica lasted over 2 months and covered an area of about 4050 m2.

„Koloratorium”

"Koloratorium" is a project whose aim is to discover the extraordinary world of chemistry and biology for primary school students from small towns across Poland. Experience and knowledge in creating modern construction chemistry products has led to the establishment of a project that helps inspire children in areas consistent with our company's business profile. Modern laboratories provide children with an opportunity to explore the secrets of science, which so far have not been available to them. At the elimination stage of the competition, schools and students gain points for various activities set out in the competition rules. 30 schools, which score the most points at the elimination stage, get to the final stage. The rivalry takes place via the internet website, which is also a place for knowledge exchange, and the educational materials posted on it are an inspiration for both teachers and students who can also take part in the individual competition. The pilot edition of the competition was held in the 2017/2018 school year. In turn, in September 2019, the first nationwide edition of the project ended. Under the following slogan: "Explore and change the world!" students from 118 primary schools from several provinces competed for as many as 11 colourful classrooms sponsored by Śnieżka. The total value of all prizes in the project accounted for PLN 240 thousand gross, and school were given 1400kg of various products necessary to carry out renovation of their classrooms. Educational facilities which engaged the largest number of students and performed the most interesting competition entries were awarded.

Places 1-3 (3 minilabs worth PLN 30 thousand)

Places 4-6 (3 minilabs worth PLN 15 thousand)

Places 7-11 (5 minilabs worth PLN 10 thousand)

The nationwide edition of the "Koloratorium" was initiated in November 2019. The results will be announced in June 2020. This time, 164 schools from towns up to 20,000 inhabitants are competing for professional equipment of ten minilabs.

Initiatives co-organized and supported by FFIL ŚNIEŻKA SA

„Śnieżka Cup”

The Śnieżka Cup competition is an opportunity for young footballers to show their talent to a wider audience and a great moment to test sports skills. The Śnieżka Cup tournament has been organized for several years and both the summer and winter edition are very popular among small athletes, their coaches and parents. Nearly 1,500 young footballers from the Podkarpackie, Małopolskie, Świętokrzyskie and Lubelskie provinces participated in the summer edition of the tournament, which was held between 15 and 16 of June in 2019. In turn, the winter edition, lasting from November 2019 for almost 2 months, gathered over 1000 children from 70 teams. The players came from three provinces: Podkarpackie, Małopolskie and Świętokrzyskie. Not only do the “Śnieżka Cup" tournaments promote physical activity and a healthy lifestyle among the youngest, but also teach them rules of fair play.

„Safe road to school”

"Safe road to school" is an action organized since 2012, which aims to popularize safe road behaviour among the youngest road users. Once again, Śnieżka joined the initiative, which funded colourful backpacks for 510 first graders from Dębica. The participants could take advantage of special boards covered with Magnat board magnetic paint, on which the first graders could paint road signs, and puzzle enthusiasts could play with magnetic puzzles, which with their help turned into information and warning signs. Every year, local companies as well as representatives of the police, territorial defence forces, ambulance service and fire brigade are involved in the event. Since the beginning of the project, more than 4,000 children from primary schools in Dębica have received school equipment.

„Summer Cinema”

Once again, Śnieżka supported open-air holiday sessions organized by the City Cultural Centre in Dębica. On Friday evenings at the band shell at Brzegowa street in Dębica, comfy beach chairs waited for film lovers as well as the best movies, free popcorn and competitions with prizes organized by Śnieżka. All you had to do was to fill out the coupons distributed before the screenings, by giving creative answers to "colourful questions" - Śnieżka products could be won to carry out summer renovations.

„Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity” (WOŚP)

On January 13, 2019, Śnieżka once again played with the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. The aim of the 27th Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity was to raise funds to acquire modern equipment for children's hospitals, such as magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, x-ray diagnostic devices, high-quality ultrasound scanners, echocardiographs and endoscopic equipment. Śnieżka, which has been involved in the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity for years, handed over a check for this purpose for PLN 60,000 for the "Dębica Kwiatek" staff.

Programs and initiatives implemented by subsidiaries

Poli-Farbe Vegyipari Kft.

• "The Story of 25 Talented People" - publication "Equal Opportunities"
  
  "The Story of 25 Talented People" is a book depicting the life story of 25 talented people with disabilities. The work on the book lasted several months, and the publication itself promotes equal opportunities, increases awareness on the valuable work of disabled people and their achievements in areas such as sport, acting, science and business. The campaign was awarded the Kreatív CSR and Prizma in Hungary. The publication with interviews was distributed together with the ÉVA magazine in the spring of 2019. A leading Hungarian women's magazine is largely addressed to middle and senior managers and business owners who play a decisive role in the integration and employment of handicapped people. During the second stage of the Poli-Farbe Kft. campaign, it expanded the publication’s content and made it publicly available on April 3–25, 2019 as part of the exhibition at the Centre for Information and Studies of József Attila at the University of Szeged.
• „The Champion of our school”
  
  This initiative, aimed at renovating gyms and sports halls, began five years ago after starting cooperation between Poli-Farbe and the Hungarian Student Sports Association. During this time, 13 gyms in Hungarian schools have been renovated. The main assumptions of the project are promotion of a healthy lifestyle and doing sport. In 2019, the program was joined by another renovated facilities such as: Catholic Primary School Gádoros Kisboldogaskuje in the Békés commune, Herman Ottó Primary School and Artistic Primary School in Miskolc.
• Renovation project for hospitals "Poli-Farbe - with colours and soul"
  
  It is a program which embraces wards in Hungarian hospitals. In 2019, 25 wards were renovated in 9 healthcare facilities in Budapest, Eger, Kecskemét, Miskolc, Szentes and Szolnok. Thanks to the program, hospital interiors gained brightness and freshness. In total, 1300 cans of paint were used in the project. Owing to the company's support, the healthcare centres that became the project beneficiaries could also purchase modern medical devices necessary for patients’ diagnosis and treatment.

Śnieżka-Ukraina

• „The colourful world of childhood”
  
  „The colourful world of childhood” is the equivalent of the "Children's world in colours" Polsih program (described in item 3.3.5.1). It is an original program under which Śnieżka-Ukraine has been refurbishing children's wards in Ukrainian hospitals for 7 years. The project has already been carried out in Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Rivne or Lviv. In 2019, another facility - the Khmelnytsky Municipal Children's Hospital, joined the program, where a 568 m2 ward was subject to renovation.
• Practical and Educational Centre
  
  Śnieżka-Ukraine has been cooperating with vocational schools in Ukraine for five years. Over this period, nine practical and educational institutions have been established in Ukraine, which annually organize various competitions, events and courses providing students with an opportunity and motivation to acquire new skills. The learners can acquire practical and theoretical knowledge in the areas like: painter, carpenter, fitter of thermal insulation systems. In 2019, other centres were opened in schools in Cherkassy and Kharkov. Last year, Śnieżka-Ukraine, with the support of the Department of Vocational Education and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, also organized a competition entitled "Decoration of finished wooden product with VIDARON products" for students in the following professions: carpenter, construction and woodworking carpenter. Teams from nine vocational schools in Ukraine, in which the centres operate, took part in the competition.

“Your Opportunity” Śnieżka Foundation

The objectives in the area of social involvement are also performed by the “Your Opportunity” Śnieżka Foundation, which is a public benefit organization. The pillars supporting the Foundation appointed by the Parent Company in 2005 are the areas of education, healthcare and social aid. The Foundation supports the achievement of Śnieżka’s social involvement objectives, being simultaneously an independent entity acting pursuant to its own articles of association.

In the reporting period, due to the support from the Founder (FFiL Śnieżka SA), which amounted to PLN 350 thousand as well as due to payments coming from natural persons and cash from 1% of tax, the Foundation was able to actively pursue its goals in the following areas:

The Foundation supports comprehensive development of children and youth through performing its own educational initiatives and through supporting projects performed by units conducting teaching, cultural, educational and sports activity. Among the institutions which received donations in 2019, there were, among others, schools, kindergartens, sports clubs and cultural units. For 14 years of the Foundation’s operation, it has provided such support to over several hundred institutions and organizations.

"Small world of big money” project

This is an original educational program performed by the Foundation in partnership with FFiL Śnieżka SA since 2016. The aim of the program is to familiarize fourth graders with secrets of economics. Lessons are conducted in an interesting way to get the children involved and the thematic areas of the cycle of six meetings was selected so that practical application of the discussed issues is shown. The original program prepared by experts is adjusted to small children and is made up of practical actions, at the same time filling the gap in the area of the foundations of economic education for primary school pupils. The final stage of the project is a trip to Warsaw, which includes a visit to the Money Centre at the National Bank of Poland. In the IV edition of the program in the 2019/2020 school year, 398 pupils from 20 schools from Dębica and neighbouring areas took part.

“Opportunity grant” a scholarship program

In 2019, the Foundation inaugurated a new scholarship program, which was addressed to high school students

The purpose of the Program is to promote ambitious and highly talented pupils, distinguished by high achievements in their fields, as well as to support and enable them to develop further. The program is intended for those pupils and students whose financial conditions prevent them from undertaking or continuing a given venture in the field supported by the Foundation, in which they achieve successes at least at the national level. The support is of a grant nature and is provided for fees related to improvement, learning and development in the field presented by the scholarship holder.

In 2019, the Foundation also continued the payment of scholarships in relation to several scholarship holders accepted in previous years to the previous scholarship assistance program.