Stronger Neighbourhood
In the social sphere, there are many parts of our country that have been hurting for years. Some of them are so large and the injuries so significant that no patch can be big enough. We can’t cover all the sore spots of our country, but we’re doing as much as we can. We are striving to create #stronger neighbourhoods everywhere we operate.
Learn more about the Stronger Neighbourhood portfolio in the summary document.
The We Can Do More Community Grant (Dokážeme víc)
We have become accustomed to the fact that the whole world is interconnected. But the world is held together by relationships at the local level. That’s why we are helping to create stronger neighbourhoods. In the We Can Do More community grant programme, on which we are working with the Via Foundation, there are three levels of grants.
Throughout the year, you can apply for a grant of up to CZK 100,000. This will help you and your neighbours change the place where you live for the better.
Once in year we announce a round of microgrants for up to CZK 20,000 for specific topic.
We are announcing a two-year grant programme providing up to CZK 500,000. Join forces with your neighbours and create a meeting place for your community.
Sokolovna in Osek will serve as a community meeting place
In Velké Osek, the locals have been repairing the Sokolovna building with their own efforts for several years. With the new school year and the end of the holidays, they want to expand the community of neighbors who will be involved in the activities. Here they will find community facilities not only for their children, but also the opportunity to get to know other families who already live in Velké Osek. In the renewed space, everyone, regardless of age, from babies to seniors, can have fun in regular groups and at one-off events, which are attended by participants from the village and the wider area.
Sokolovna in Osek will serve as a community meeting place
In Velké Osek, the locals have been repairing the Sokolovna building with their own efforts for several years. With the new school year and the end of the holidays, they want to expand the community of neighbors who will be involved in the activities. Here they will find community facilities not only for their children, but also the opportunity to get to know other families who already live in Velké Osek. In the renewed space, everyone, regardless of age, from babies to seniors, can have fun in regular groups and at one-off events, which are attended by participants from the village and the wider area.
The We Can Do More Grant (Dokážeme víc) celebrated its 5th anniversary in 2023. During this time, we contributed almost 17.6 million CZK to the creation of stronger regions, and thanks to this, 423 places and neighboring communities were able to come to life.
"We have created a place where all generations can meet - parents bring their children, older generations bring their grandchildren. They sit, talk. And it really turned out that building and using a playground deepens neighborhood cooperation." Lukáš Růžička
Experience a Different Day (Volunteering)
Every employee can devote two working days a year to a good cause. We help people in need, care for the landscape and share our expert knowledge and experience with nonprofits and other organisations. About 17% of our colleagues take part in the Different Day programme.
Cleaning of the black dump near the Posázavská trail
The difficult-to-access terrain made it impossible to reach the site by car, and even by boat on the water it was not possible due to insufficient draft. However, the Posázavská trail is among the favorite destinations of Spořka employees. Almost fifty volunteers arrived in the forest. About 50 sacks were taken out and two containers of iron were taken away.
In 2023, we spent 2,079 days helping for 16,336 hours and 1,752 colleagues were involved.
Are you a charitable organization or social enterprise that would welcome volunteers from Spořka? Get in touch with us.
“I saw how Palata works and it also strengthened my personal growth in gratitude for my sight. At Palata, they have a great approach to clients and provide them with excellent care, it definitely makes sense to use the Day in a different way.” Marie Markova
Stronger Movers Programme
You don’t have to be rich, an influential politician or a civil servant to change the place where you live for the better. But you must be willing to talk to your neighbours over the fence and be interested in the world around you. That’s why we are offering a development programme for local movers with an entrepreneurial spirit which gives ten selected participants the opportunity to spend several months working intensively on themselves and their project. The programme is based on a learning process. On the journey, the participants are guided by other movers, a mentor, a coach and other experts.
Irena Kubicová likes the landscape she lives in, the principles of sustainability, slow travel and yoga. She also supports young, active people who can invent great things in České Švýcarsko and Šluknovský vyběžek and look for reasons not to leave here.
Every year she organizes the Interweaving of Worlds Conference. She founded the Young friendly region platform, which consists of two-thirds of young people, and those with more senior experience provide them with support and mentoring. She makes a podcast about the region called Inspirare. And she and her husband also renovated the old Bohemian Cottage, which they rent out.
“I do some things intuitively, and I found out during Stronger Movers Programme that some of them are described as mechanisms and techniques that are learned somewhere. And I make them myself! That encouraged me. I also realized during this that my powers are not infinite, and thanks to the movers, I took three months off."
In 2023, a total of 19 movers successfully completed the program.
"We also wanted to get people off their chairs. To say what they don't like around here, so that they want to change it." Eva Kuchtová
As partners, we support the neighborhood in the following programs:
Bibliotheca inspirans
Awarding libraries that inspire others with their efforts. We implement together with the OSF Foundation. Nowadays, children usually gather in libraries to play games, seniors come here for advice or coffee, and librarians and librarians do incredible things: for example, they describe to children exactly what happened to victims of cyberbullying and how they felt before, they took their own lives. Bibliotheca inspirans is an award for libraries that we implement with the OSF Foundation.
In 2023, the award went to 11 libraries that actively assumed their educational role and opened up topics related to the world of media.
Other projects include:
- Support and development of social enterprises through Breakfaststory, including an e-shop with quality products.
- The Journalism Award, a project of the OSF Foundation, honoring quality Czech journalism.