“Call for Europe” initiative awards social projects in 12 Group countries
UniCredit and its Foundation support 52 children’s non-profit organizations with a total 500,000 euros
- The third edition of the “Call for Europe” initiative of UniCredit and its Foundation aimed at supporting non-profit organisations focused on children in the 12 different European countries where the Group operates, has come to an end
- 52 social projects dedicated to young people and children have been rewarded with a total amount of 500,000 euros, distributed across four specific focus areas: education (238,500 euros), social inclusion (104,500 euros), disability (94,000 euros) and health (63,000 euros)
- In Austria, projects of FREI.Spiel, APC-Help and Austrian Red Cross were selected
Robert Zadrazil, CEO of UniCredit Bank Austria, commented: “It is particularly important to us to support disadvantaged children and young people. I am therefore very pleased that we have the opportunity to support three outstanding projects from Austria as part of the ‘Call for Europe’ initiative. Among the nominated projects, we have placed a special focus on education this year in order to give children and young people from difficult social backgrounds or with a refugee background a better start in life by successfully completing their schooling. A sincere ‘thank you’ to all the people who are committed to helping children and young people day after day – and to a large extent also on a voluntary basis.”
Silvia Cappellini, Head of UniCredit Foundation, said: “UniCredit Foundation has a long history of supporting our communities in the different countries of our Bank, which we continue to build on and enhance through dedicated activities. Thanks to the “Call for Europe” initiative, we have been able to support 144 projects for children and young people in our different European countries over the last three years with a total of 1,360,000 euros. This is testament to our continued strong social commitment and high attention to the needs of all our communities with a special focus on supporting children and young people to foster inclusion and build a more sustainable, better society for all.”
Third edition of “Call for Europe”
The third edition of the “Call for Europe” initiative was launched in November 2021 inviting the Group's local banks to identify and share a short-list of up to five outstanding social projects of particular local relevance focused on children and young people. A dedicated Committee appointed by the UniCredit Foundation was responsible for selecting the winning initiatives across 12 Group countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Each country was awarded 40,000 euros to be divided among the winning local projects. Furthermore, additional 20,000 euros were awarded by the Committee to a further select number of projects deemed as particularly impactful.
About the three selected projects from Austria
- FREI.Spiel – Volunteers for Children: In order to achieve more educational fairness for socially disadvantaged schoolchildren (aged 6 to 12), volunteers under the guidance of teachers support the children in learning, practising their language skills and playing.
- APC-Help: APC-Help helps young refugees (15 years and older) to obtain a graduation certificate and thus increase their chances on the labour market.
- Austrian Red Cross: This project accompanies children and adolescents from socially disadvantaged families in their school career, individually promotes their language and learning skills, and supports them with their homework and preparation for exams. The learning support takes place in addition to school in the afternoon, mainly at schools (or at district offices of the Red Cross).
Enquiries
UniCredit Bank Austria Media Relations
Matthias Raftl, tel.: +43 5 0505-52809;
E-mail: matthias.raftl@unicreditgroup.at