The origins of the Vebego Foundation can be traced back to the tsunami that affected parts of Asia at the end of December 2004. Within Vebego and its companies this resulted in spontaneous initiatives on the part of employees and also prompted us to ask the question: ‘How can we as Vebego make a long-term contribution to social projects’. After all, we are not interested in passing fads. We attach great importance to continuity and are keen to make a sustainable contribution to the development of people.
In response to this, the Board of Directors decided to give greater structure and substance to its social involvement: the Vebego Foundation was born.
More than simply donating money
It was immediately clear to everyone involved that we wanted to do more than simply donate money. Money has to be made available, of course, to help underprivileged people in the Netherlands and abroad. We believe, however, that it is just as important to be present in person, wherever possible, and to get actively involved; to pass on our experiences and make our knowledge available. This means that our projects always involve a combination of a financial contribution and active involvement on the part of our employees – whether this is in a far-off country on a construction mission or close to home in the form of a day spent working as a volunteer.
CSR module
CSI forms part of our CSR policy. These are issues that are inextricably linked. For this reason, all of the Vebego Foundation’s projects are linked to a CSR module or workshop. In these modules and workshops we focus more broadly on Vebego’s CSR vision, why we consider this to be so important, how our employees can make a contribution themselves and what the relationship is with our CSI policy.
The CSR module, which has been developed by Eaquator, takes place prior to a construction mission. The CSR workshop is linked to our initiatives in the Netherlands and precedes a day of voluntary work. In addition, custom CSR modules and workshops are organized at our companies on request.
Our results
We are keen to find out what the results of our efforts are. The steps that we take are therefore monitored on the basis of result areas.
In 2010 we achieved the following:
- 3 construction missions
- Sri Lanka, Ghana, South Africa
45 employees took part (excl. supervisors)
- Sri Lanka, Ghana, South Africa
- 2 projects in the Netherlands:
- De Belevenis (The Experience) with 16 volunteers
- SchoonPlein (Clean Playground) was developed and is being launched in 2011
- 46 employees followed a CSR module linked to a construction mission
- 12 employees followed a CSR workshop linked to The Experience
- 9 companies organized a CSI activity independently
- Evaluations have revealed that all participants are proud of their contribution to the Vebego Foundation’s projects
- At the end of 2010 the Vebego Foundation had a net total of 175 ambassadors (excl. Board of Directors, HFH and former employees)
- Since the Vebego Foundation was set up, and up to the end of 2010, only 17 ambassadors have left the company
In 2011 we are once again monitoring the progress of our results. The interim figures following Q1 and Q2 are as follows:
- 3 construction missions
- 2 to Sri Lanka, 1 to South Africa
- 49 employees took part (excl. supervisors)
- 2 projects are in progress in the Netherlands:
- De Belevenis (The Experience) in Groningen with 24 volunteers
- SchoonPlein (The Clean Playground) project has run at 5 schools with participation from our cleaners.
- 32 employees followed a CSR module linked to a construction mission
- 13 employees followed a CSR workshop linked to The Experience
- Following a count in Q2 of 2011, the Vebego Foundation had a net total of 253 ambassadors (excl. Board of Directors, HFH and former employees)