Today, the BNP Paribas Foundation is celebrating its 30th birthday with an event at the Marché Saint-Honoré in the heart of the Opéra district of Paris which hosts the BNP Paribas Group headquarters. From mid-day until 3pm, modern dance performers, new circus arts exponents and jazz musicians, all of whom receive support from the Foundation, will be putting on a street show open to the public.
This event marks the start of festivities throughout the 2014/2015 season designed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the BNP Paribas Foundation.
- ‘Dream Up’: the BNP Paribas Foundation’s new international arts-based education programme, with a budget of €2 million over three years
The BNP Paribas Foundation is marking its 30th anniversary by renewing its commitment to education & culture and social integration, key areas of the BNP Paribas Group’s corporate philanthropy policy. ‘Dream Up’ is a new international programme designed to promote education through artistic performance. It will provide assistance to young people from deprived or precarious backgrounds in some 30 countries on five continents.
A test phase running in twelve countries since 2012 – supporting young people’s workshops for music in Italy and Portugal, for film-making in Spain, modern dance in Hong Kong, visual arts in the UK and circus in Romania in partnership with the Cirque du Soleil – has achieved excellent results.
The conclusive results achieved by the pilot projects have now led the BNP Paribas Foundation to broaden the initiative. It will henceforth become the Foundation’s flagship international programme and the emblem of the Group’s commitment to education and social work. It will comprise projects run by local charitable organisations in 30 countries where BNP Paribas is established, Projects selected to receive support will be chosen during first-half 2015 in close liaison with the local BNP Paribas teams and Group staff in the countries concerned will also make a contribution to the running of the projects. Each project will receive a grant worth €20,000 a year for three years, which will amount to a total support package of close to €2 million over the period.
- A unique history: 30 years of corporate philanthropy in several fields
Established under the aegis of the Fondation de France, the BNP Paribas Foundation’s philanthropic work is focused on supporting and assisting innovative projects in three main fields: education and culture, social integration and environmental care. The Foundation is keen to work with creative people, new ideas and innovative projects. Moreover, its policy is to provide optimal support to its partner organisations, through a commitment to working with those partners and their projects over the long term. Dialogue, loyal support and a relationship based on trust are the hallmarks of that commitment.
Since it was set up in 1984, the Foundation has provided support to more than 300 cultural projects, some 40 scientific research programmes and around one thousand social and educational initiatives, in France and across the world. Over the 30 years, the BNP Paribas Foundation team have also developed a highly districtive approach to corporate philanthropy – prioritising the individual over the institution and providing long-term support to its partners. “Help our partners to grow and grow with them” has always been the watchword of the BNP Paribas Foundation.
“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the BNP Paribas Foundation, we underline once again our determination and commitment to the social and cultural life of the societies in which the Group works,” declared Michel Pébereau, Honorary Chairman of BNP Paribas and President of the BNP Paribas Foundation, adding: “Throughout these thirty years, we have always sought to be innovative in our charitable work and to support those with creative ideas. From the very outset, in its support for social integration, education and environmental research, the Foundation has consistently shown a high degree of curiosity and ingenuity.”
Working with its many partners, the BNP Paribas Foundation has drawn up a calendar of Anniversary events in the three main fields of activity – social integration, education & culture and environmental care – scheduled to run throughout the 2014/2015 season, both in France and abroad.
About BNP Paribas Corporate Philanthropy
Today, BNP Paribas Corporate Philanthropy is embodied in over 3,500 projects and programmes carried out worldwide via a network of 14 funds and foundations or managed directly with Group subsidiaries and business lines. This Corporate Philanthropy policy is centred on five areas: arts and culture, social integration, education, health and the environment.
Established under the aegis of the Fondation de France, the BNP Paribas Foundation has been the cornerstone of the Group's corporate philanthropy initiatives for 30 years. It endeavours to preserve and promote the treasures housed in museums, encourage creative people and performers in disciplines that rarely receive aid from corporate philanthropy programmes and fund climate change research. The Foundation also supports projects designed to promote education and social integration.
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