The press corner
19/10/2004
The Proximus Foundation is donating € 500,000 to assist disadvantaged people in Belgium this year.
Associations that wish to benefit from this support can submit their projects now. To enable the maximum number of non-profit associations to find out about this opportunity of support, the Proximus Foundation, its ambassadors and assessment panel members are mobilising to invite associations to submit their application dossiers by 15 November 2004.
Brussels, 19 October 2004 - Ingrid Berghmans and Jean-Luc Van Kerckhoven, representing the Proximus Foundation, were present today in Brussels to publicise the Proximus Foundation action in favour of Belgian non-profit associations. Various associations that have won support in previous years were also present to testify... and to invite other non-profit associations to submit their projects.
In December 2002, Proximus created the Proximus Foundation to assist the growing number of people who do not have the opportunity to participate actively in our country's economic and social life. Its task: to support projects intended to improve the well-being of people who are disadvantaged by marginalisation, youth or disability in Belgium through financial and human resources. At present, the Proximus Foundation has already given some 70 local initiatives throughout Belgium support worth a total of one million euros.
The Proximus Foundation operates via calls to submit projects. Each year, it invites non-profit associations and non-governmental organisations recognised by the Ministry of Finance in Belgium which help people in these categories to propose specific projects for implementation the following year.
Financial support and time credit
Projects can also be submitted by Proximus employees (individually or in a team) who work in partnership with one of these associations. The employees whose project is selected will also receive a time credit of 13 to 16 days annually to give voluntary assistance to the project concerned.
Well-known personalities offer their support
The selection of the projects for support will be supervised by a panel of well-known Belgian personalities, chosen for their commitment to the associative world. The jury includes Dominique Monami, Marlène de Wouters, Ingrid Berghmans and Claude Delacroix. Like last year, the panel is chaired by Baudouin Michiels, who is also chairman of the Prince Albert Fund.
This independent panel, together with Proximus employees and customers, are called on to vote for their favourite projects for three prizes: the Proximus Employees' Prize, the Panel's prize, and the Proximus Customers' Prize. Thus, a series of projects aimed at improving the well-being of people disadvantaged by marginalisation, youth or disability will receive donations worth a total of € 500,000, the same level as in 2003 and 2004.
Interested non-profit associations can visit the Proximus Foundation website at www.proximusfoundation.be up to 15 November 2004 to find out the conditions for participating in the projects competition *.
The Proximus Foundation was not built in one day...
The Proximus Foundation, a public service foundation, is the outcome of reflection within the company, which was already in the habit of encouraging initiatives in the social, health and environmental sectors. Thus, in line with its promise to bring people closer together, Proximus has offered preferential SMS rates for years to help the deaf and hard of hearing. The company also offers support from time to time to various initiatives such as the Flanders Red Cross Duck Race, the Cédric Foundation and the PC for Schools project (Proximus offers refurbished computers and printers released from its old IT stock to primary schools seeking such equipment).
The Foundation is managed by a Board of Management chaired by Ms Lutgart Van den Berghe, a Belgian specialist in Corporate Governance and professor at the University of Ghent, Executive Director at the Institute of Directors and at Vlerick Leuven Ghent Management School.