Proximus

Thirty eight local projects for the disabled and for underprivileged children and people will benefit from the € 500.000 budget allocated by the Proximus Foundation. Of 561 applications received, these projects were selected by an independent jury as well as Proximus employees and customers.

The 2005 Proximus Employee Award was presented to non-profit association De Plan-aid, which received the most votes via the Proximus intranet. Their initiative is aimed at refurbishing rooms and flats that accommodate young people in difficulty. The project had been submitted by a Proximus employee, in partnership with the association.

Proximus employees can indeed submit a project in partnership with the non profit association of their choice. If such a project is selected, the employee can take advantage of time credit (hours that the employee can take from their working time to do volunteer work) varying from 13 to 16 days, in order to be able to contribute on a voluntary basis to a project in the field.

The four non-profit associations voted on by the Proximus customers carry out their projects in various regions:

- Comprendre and Parler - Brussels
- Dominiek Savio Instituut - Gits
- Centre Tilou - Maisières
- Vereniging voor Solidariteit - Antwerp

Furthermore, a panel of Belgian celebrities selected 33 winning projects. The progress of each will be monitored by the Proximus Foundation throughout the year. To find out more, consult www.proximusfoundation.be.

The names and project descriptions of the non profit associations that were selected are enclosed.

Background of the call for project proposals

In October 2004, the Proximus Foundation launched a call for project proposals among non profit associations operating in the Belgian social sector. The associations were given until mid November 2004 to submit project proposals to the foundation. When the deadline of November 15 arrived, the Proximus Foundation had registered over 500 applications.

In allocating the total sum of € 500,000 and in selecting the winning projects, the Proximus Foundation established three award categories: the Proximus Employee Award (one project - maximum budget - € 50,000); the Jury Award (maximum budget - € 350,000) and the Customer Award (four projects - maximum budget - € 100,000).

The celebrity panel met in early January to make its own selection for the jury prize that would reward 33 initiatives. For the Employee Award, they also chose approximately 70 projects to be eligible for the employee vote that was made possible through the Intranet pages reserved for employees of the Proximus Foundation. Finally, in March 2005, 10 projects were presented to Proximus customers on their monthly bill and on the website of the Proximus Foundation. Once they had made their choice, customers could vote for their favorite project by sending an SMS message free of charge.

Monday May 9, 2005 saw the Proximus Foundation inviting representatives from the winning non profit associations to the awards ceremony, which was followed by a reception where they had the opportunity to meet Proximus representatives and the five members of the 2005 panel: Domenica Monami (Olympic tennis champion), Ingrid Berghmans (Olympic judo champion), Marlène de Wouters (Flemish television presenter), Claude Delacroix (leading French-language radio personality) and Baudouin Michiels (President of the Management Committee of the Fonds Prince Albert and President of the Belgacom Foundation).

President of the Proximus Board of Directors and Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Proximus Foundation, Philippe Vander Putten said that it is essential for companies such as Proximus to fulfill their role as a corporate citizen. Besides the Proximus Foundation, other initiatives that the mobile phone operator is involved in include the development of responsible marketing and products and the development of energy and waste management policies, for example. Proximus is also finalizing its second corporate social responsibility report, to be published this June.