Reports 2010

Greece

For the third consecutive year, GENIKI BANK organized voluntary actions and gave to the employees the ability to express with multiple ways the solidarity for their fellow beings.

Supporting the educational and social action

We collected 15 boxes of school supplies, clothes, books and toys for the NGO Educational and Social Action. These boxes were transferred to Support Center for Children and Families and were distributed to the children. The welcoming from the officers and volunteers of the organization and especially from the children was very warm and their joy was great when they got their gifts into their hands!
In parallel, a group of colleagues offered voluntary work spending time with the children of the organization, helping them in reading and mathematics and playing creatively with them.
Grabbing the opportunity, we would like to remind you that the Support Center for Children and Families is in need of volunteers for the creative occupation of the children. Finally, GENIKI Bank’s Management has donated an amount of money to the Organization along with their wishes to continue the excellent work they provide to the children and their families.

“I was one of the employees of the Bank that participated in the Citizen Commitment Week 2010 and especially the voluntary blood donation. Such actions are mostly appreciated since they allow us to bond with our colleagues, and also a way of promoting the idea of volunteerism which is a value during this difficult phase we are all going through. The action was well organized and supported, and it really reached it s objective which at my opinion is to participate without expecting any return.”
Konstantina Moraiti –
Human Resources & Training

“I participate every year in voluntary blood donations organised by our bank because I believe that the collected blood can save a life. This is certainly the motivation of this effort and of my small offer. The whole event of blood collection was very well organized and all participants (doctor, nurses, organisers, etc.) were gentle and knowledgeable in their subject so all donors we were feeling calm, relaxed and safe. I believe in this great offer and I will continue to participate in the years ahead.”
Ioannis Balis –
Piraeus Group Branch Manager

“Last Friday 18 June 2010, and on the occasion of the Citizen Commitment Week of SocGen Group, we visited the Centre of Support for Children & Families located in Kolonos – Athens, in order to spend some time with the children hosted there and help distribute the gifts which Geniki Bank Group employees gathered for this cause. It was really quality time for us who were lucky enough to spend some time with these children, who in their majority come from financially distressed families or with no families of their own. As we evidenced, the parents and guardians of these children even if they would like to, can not help their children with their school reading as they are illiterate themselves. So, a number of volunteers, among them ourselves, for a couple of hours spend some time helping these children with their reading or just playing with them. Overall, we believe that it would be of great importance for the personal development of these children (and in a way, for the personal development of the volunteers themselves), if many of us continue in future this action.”
Nicholaos Velonis & Aliki Michelidaki –
GENIKI Leasing

Find more informations about Greece commitments on its dedicated page.

Reports

Citizen Commitment Week 2010 : They did it!

Interviews

F. Oudéa conclusion

CCW 2010 in Brazil, Hong-Kong, Singapore and Russia

Paris to London bike ride

CCW 2010 in Macedonia, United States and Italy

D.Marquet

Reports 2009

Citizen Commitment Week 2009 : They did it!

> Dragon boat racers in UK

> Frédéric Oudéa at the toy donation event

> When design goes hand in hand with corporate citizenship

> Loïc Pinchart looks back at a Dream afternoon

> Trainee painters and organisers in Réunion

Edito

Après une année 2009 marquée par une crise économique et financière sans précédent, 2010 sera une année de rebond pour le Groupe. Dans ce contexte nous voulons continuer à aider et à soutenir non seulement nos clients mais aussi la société qui
nous entoure.

La Citizen Commitment Week 2010 est une excellente opportunité pour le Groupe de démontrer son engagement. L’an dernier, 37 pays dans lequel nous sommes implantés ont participé à cet élan solidaire en partenariat avec leurs associations locales. En France, 14 associations soutenues par la Fondation SociétéGénérale pour la Solidarité et Talents& Partage (Association des salariés et retraités du Groupe) ont permis à nos collaborateurs en France de s’impliquer concrètement auprès d’elles de manière diverses. Nous avons ainsi pu offrir globalement plus de 21 000 heures à des actions solidaires.

Cette année, un plus grand nombre d’associations ont répondu présents à notre appel dans tout le Groupe. Je suis sûr qu’ensemble, nous allons pouvoir relever ce nouveau défi.

Continuons de faire preuve de solidarité, et donnons, grâce à ces actions, un supplément d’âme au travail que nous faisons au quotidien.

Fréderic OUDEA

Citizen Commitment Week 2009 : they did it! Dragon boat racers in UK

"We knew we weren't going to do very well when we saw the size of some of the people in the other teams!"

Joshua Newman, senior developer for Societe General Securities Services UK, shares his race experience.

What kind of competition is the Dragon Boat Race you participated in?
It was a boat race in Canary Wharf between teams from different financial institutions e.g. Societe Generale, Citigroup etc. Its aim was to raise money for the Richard House Children’s hospice. There were eight teams, and 14 people per boat. Each race took us about half a kilometre along one of the large canals and then back again.

How did you find out about the race?
I was informed by a member of staff in our office who was going to take part but had to pull out at the last minute. She recruited me and my colleague. I was keen to get involved as it sounded like a good way to raise money for a worthwhile cause and it also sounded like good fun!

What was your overall impression?
I enjoyed the event because you got to set up a web page with your sponsorship details and how much you had raised so far etc. I enjoyed creating my page and adding a picture of myself looking keen and trying to give the impression that I was a force to be reckoned with when it came to rowing!

What were the difficulties?
The outcome of the race was heavily dependent on the size of the people in the teams. On top of the fact that there were only 12 of us, we knew we were not going to do very well when we saw the size of some of the people in the other teams! Also, some people didn’t use the proper rowing technique that we were taught before the race! I was sitting behind some of them, and they were rowing so hard they scooped water all over me and I was soaked!

Yana Vetcherkovsakaya

Citizen Commitment Week 2009 : they did it! Frédéric Oudéa at the toy donation event

To enable the children of families in need to receive Christmas presents, Societe Generale staff come together each year: they collect toys in good condition and donate them to charity. Frédéric Oudéa tells of his experience as a volunteer.

" My action simply consisted in giving boxes full of toys to various charity associations", explains Frédéric Oudéa, Societe Generale’s Chairman and CEO. Organised each year in the group’s various buildings throughout the Paris region by Talents & Partage – the charitable association consisting of current and retired Société Générale employees, this toy donation event makes it possible to give presents to children from disadvantaged backgrounds in the Paris area as well as in Bulgaria.

Frédéric Oudéa committed himself to this volunteer work as part of Citizen Commitment Week, an event that is held over one week in June but whose long-term effects are felt far beyond. " It’s an opportunity to come together for humanitarian reasons, to enhance sustainable development, for charities associations that need support but haven’t sufficient means, to make this corporate citizenship spirit endure."

Yana Vetcherkovsakaya

Citizen Commitment Week 2009 : they did it! When design goes hand in hand with corporate citizenship

Designing a poster for a show by disabled performers gave Yanada Taing, release manager at SG CIB, an excellent opportunity for to offer her designer skills within the framework of Citizen Commitment Week.

"When I lived in Australia, I was able to do volunteer work for humanitarian organisations. Solidarity is deeply embedded in English-speaking culture, and everything is organised to make volunteer work part and parcel of daily life from your school years through your working life and into retirement! Indeed it is totally normal to see such experience in people’s CVs. I wanted to continue in this vein in France.

When the Group launched the www.citizencommitmentweek.com site, with a wide variety of actions to undertake, I was delighted to be able to become involved in volunteer work again. It helped me become involved in something that I believe in, that was in line with my skills and that could fit into my busy schedule. I therefore decided to design a poster for the "Au fil de L'ombre" show that will be held on Friday November 20 in the Neuilly-sur-Seine theatre. The show is being organised by "La Possible Echappée", a charity association that aims to promote, develop and help activities based on all kinds of artistic expression with people of every age suffering from a physical or mental disability.

I drew my inspiration from various theatre posters I noticed around me (in the underground, in the street, on advertising pillars and on the Internet), and researched the requirements and preferences with those in charge of the charity. After numerous meetings, hours and hours of work and a number of mock-ups, our poster was ready.

Today, we are trying to advertise the show by word of mouth, but it’s difficult to convince people to go to see a show with disabled performers.

What have I gained from this adventure? I hope I’ve been useful, and have been able to give visibility to their actions through my poster. It has been a very fulfilling experience. I will of course be going to watch the show, and I hope the performers like their poster!"

Yana Vetcherkovsakaya

Citizen Commitment Week 2009 : they did it! Loïc Pinchart looks back at a Dream afternoon

For Citizen Commitment Week, CGI organised for sick children to have a ride in a sports car. Loïc Pinchart looks back at the event.

"We were told about Citizen Commitment Week during a DSFS communication committee meeting. My HR officer Christian Macori and I thought that it could be an opportunity to organise the first such event within CGI. We contacted the "Rêves" (Dreams) charity association that brings the dreams and aspirations of very sick children to life, and decided to organise an event enabling these children to get to ride in a sports car", says Loïc Pinchart, Internal Communication Officer for CGI (Crédit Général Industriel, the Group’s vehicle and boat credit subsidiary). " Without the Group’s initiative, I don’t think that we would ever have become involved in such an adventure. It was a very positive operation, with everything running smoothly from the outset. Every time we talked about the project to someone, they always came onboard with the idea!"

" Our partner Porsche was the first to give the heads up to our request for them to lend us cars, with Mitsubishi and Subaru following close behind. Then, to crown it all, a number of Ferrari owners joined us to take the children on a drive", explains Loïc Pinchart.

The aim of this fun afternoon was to allow the sick and their families to forget their illness for a while. On the day, some thirty CGI volunteers came along to help organise a really exceptional afternoon.

There were of course a few delicate matters to sort out, like organising insurance for the cars and people for example, but getting past these hurdles was well worth it. We had originally been expecting around fifty people, but on the day over two hundred turned up at CGI on Saturday 20th June 2009.

What will Loïc retain from this experience? " The memory of the children’s smiles and their eyes, because they don’t thank people the same way adults do. Their parents left us very moving comments in the visitors’ book. My colleagues and I realised that it’s so rare to do something for free without expecting anything at all back in return. That’s why 20th June was such an unusual and special day for us too."

Yana Vetcherkovsakaya

Citizen Commitment Week 2009 : they did it! Trainee painters and organisers in Réunion

"For Citizen Commitment Week in Réunion, we helped renovate houses for underprivileged families and helped organise a paper chase for their children"

Says Sophie Mazuy, Head of Internal Training and Communication for BFC

On the French island of Réunion, the wooden houses under the care of the ATD Quart Monde (Aide à Toute Détresse) charity association were in need of decoration on the inside and renovation on the outside. To mark Citizen Commitment Week, on June 20 2009, some twenty staff from Banque Française Commerciale (BFC), the Retail Banking Outside France’s subsidiary in Réunion, gave a helping hand to do these houses up.

"Armed with brushes, paint rollers and other utensils, these BFC staff, some of whom brought their families along with them, became trainee painters and decorators for the day", says Sophie Mazuy, Head of Internal Training and Communication. The day started with a communal breakfast facing the ocean. Those present then donned a Citizen Commitment Week T-shirt and cap, climbed up onto scaffolding or stepladders and began spreading litres and litres of wood stain and paint."

The idea of helping this charity association came from a BFC member of staff, Dominique Foucault, who was in contact with the President of ADT Quart Monde Réunion. "I worked on the organisational side: communication, encouragement, relations with ATD... Another group of staff organised a paper chase aimed at initiating underprivileged children to nature and botany", explains Sophie Mazuy. "What touched me the most was the proof that, beyond our actual job, our team can help other people, other sectors. And management showed its support of this initiative by financing the acquisition of our equipment and by paying for the free lunch provided to staff, children and volunteers from the charity. It was a truly enriching experience."

Yana Vetcherkovsakaya