We continually invest in different Internal Social Responsibility (ISR) projects, which encompass three strategic pillars: Healthcare, Education and Family Well-Being.
In Poland, a substantial amount of the investment made in these programmes is supported by the Social Fund, in compliance with prevailing legal provisions.
Healthcare is one of the areas most invested in, and programmes are in place which make up for shortcomings in National Health Services in both Portugal and Poland. In 2017, we invested over 1.8 million euros in this area.
In Portugal, the “SOS Dentist” Programme aims at helping employees with oral health issues who do not have the financial capacity to bear the entire cost of dental treatments. The three editions which have already been held have helped 2,865 employees. In 2017, 818 employees completed their treatments.
Although there has been an improvement in recent years, Portugal is still ranked as one of the countries with moderate severity when it comes to child tooth decay. Our “SOS Junior Dentist” Programme for our employees’ children has helped 99 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 17 to complete their treatments.
Through our “Special Families” Programme, which aims at providing supplementary therapy (hydrotherapy and hippotherapy) and home therapy (physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy) to families with children and adolescents with special needs, and at supporting the caregiver, we have helped 41 children.
In Poland, our “Let’s Take Care of our Health Together” programme has provided 2,841 employees with free health screenings, accompanied by an educational programme and other activities to keep in shape.
The “Mali Bohaterowie” (Little Heroes) programme is aimed at employees who would like to ask for support for medical services, purchase medication, personal care products or rehabilitation equipment. 191 children received support.
Education is also a strategic pillar for Jerónimo Martins. As such, we continued to invest in programmes which could make a difference in the lives of our employees and, in 2017, approximately 1.4 million euros were invested in this pillar.
In Portugal, we continued the “Scholarship” programme, which is for employees and their children who, despite not having the financial resources, wish to enrol or re-enrol in higher education. We attributed 95 scholarships for the 2016/2017 academic year, and 332 scholars have already benefited since the programme was launched.
In Portugal and in Poland, within the scope of the “Back-to-School” campaign, we distributed over 1,587 school kits to our employees’ children who started their 1st year of Primary School.
We continued our “To School with Biedronka” programme in Poland, making a financial contribution towards the cost of school books for the children of employees with financial difficulties. This measure covered approximately 2,700 families.
In 2017, nearly 2,600 children participated in our “Summer Holiday Camps”, both in Portugal and in Poland.
In 2017, the Group invested over 15.5 million euros in Family Well-Being.
In Portugal, the “Social Emergency Fund”, established since 2011, aims at helping employees with proven financial difficulties or those who are living in an at-risk social or family situation. The work carried out with our employees and their families is supported by social workers who ensure an effective, fast and professional response.
In 2017, we supported 706 employees through the “Social Emergency Fund”, investing 570 thousand euros, divided between the areas of food, healthcare, education, legal advice and financial guidance.
In Poland, we support employees that are going through financial difficulties, through the “You Can Count on Biedronka” programme. In 2017, financial aid was provided to 5,446 employees.
The “Biedronka dla Seniora” (Biedronka Seniors’) programme is for retired employees who are having financial difficulties due to no longer being employed. In 2017, 37 former employees received aid.
Upholding the spirit of unity and sharing over the Christmas period, and commemorating International Children’s Day, we offered more than 124 thousand gifts to our employees in Portugal and in Poland. We also wanted to contribute towards the first few months of the lives of our employees’ children and offered over 5,373 Baby Kits in these two countries.