Each full-time Commercial Union employee who becomes involved at least one day as a volunteer will get one additional day off work during the year – this decision was made by the CU management board to mark International Volunteer Day today.
Each full-time Commercial Union (CU) employee who becomes involved at least one day as a volunteer will get one additional day off work during the year – this decision was made by the CU management board to mark International Volunteer Day today. The extra incentive to give selfless aid to those in need will come into effect at CU from the beginning of 2007.
Ever since it began operating in Poland almost 15 years ago, the Commercial Union group has been supporting voluntary work in a number of ways. In 2001, the company sponsored volunteer centres in Poland and began working with the Volunteer Centre Association (www.wolontariat.org), which it continues to do today. The same year it was awarded the honorary title Guardian of the Voluntary Sector in Poland.
"The involvement of employees in voluntary work is good not just for those who benefit from the aid, but for the employees themselves and for the company. It engenders more harmonious human relations within the company. It brings a feeling of satisfaction. Volunteers are more liable to identify themselves with the aims of the company. That is why CU, as an employer, has resolved to give due credit to employees who have committed themselves and to encourage others to act selflessly," says Grażyna Goslings, CU Poland’s corporate communications director.
Encouragement to serve as a volunteer begins with education. Specific proposals are posted on the pages of CU’s staff newsletters and on the internal information network. CU employees help out at children’s homes, youth clubs and social organisations and work to support a foundation that promotes protection of the environment. Over the last weekend, 1-3 December 2006, several people from CU took part in a collection of foodstuffs at shopping centres that was organised by the Food Banks network.
Within CU, collections of items and money are also organised, especially in the run-up to Christmas. Employees have provided help for children suffering from AIDS, children and very poor parents from social aid centres in particular Warsaw districts, and also children and young people with physical and mental disabilities in the care of the Bieszczady Association “Ray of Hope” in the economically disadvantaged Bieszczady mountains in south-eastern Poland.
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Information:
Bohdan Bialorucki
Telephone: +48 22 557 43 41
E-mail: bohdan_bialorucki@cu.com.pl
For further information, see www.cu.pl
Notes to editors:
Commercial Union Poland group is part of the international Aviva group – the world’s fifth largest insurance group, and the largest in the United Kingdom by revenues. Aviva group operates in 25 countries. It occupies a strong position in the European Union, including United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Poland. It also has major operations in the USA, Canada, Australia and Asia. Worldwide, Aviva group services about 35 million customers and manages assets valued at over Ł330 billion. For additional information, see the website www.aviva.com