THE "SUPPORTING STORIES" CAMPAIGN RAISES CZK 1,077,000

Employees proposed ten very strong stories to receive support from the campaign
In two weeks, they raised CZK 601,450 among themselves
T-Mobile added another CZK 475,550
A total of CZK 1,077,000 will be distributed to people in difficult life situations 

Prague, 16 December 2013 – In the pre-holiday period, the T-Mobile Fund has organised a fundraising campaign titled “Supporting Stories”. The idea of holding a campaign to raise funds for people in difficult life situations was conceived by the operator’s employees, who wanted to act on stories in their close vicinity. In just two weeks, they proposed ten very strong stories for which they raised an impressive CZK 601,450 among themselves. In accordance with the project’s terms. T-Mobile has added another CZK 475,550, bringing the total to CZK 1,077,000, which will be distributed to people having difficulties in life. 

The campaign ran from 25 November to 8 December this year. Each employee had an opportunity to publish, via a special application on the intranet, a story of a particular person – a family member, friend, neighbour or someone in their area who is in need and whom such employee wants to support. He or she then donated the first CZK 1,000 to the story, inviting colleagues to help raise the necessary amount. A total of 545 employees participated in the campaign, the vast majority of them contributing to several stories. 

“In a few days, our employees suggested ten very sad stories. It was immediately clear to us that we chose a type of support people have been asking us for. They appreciated the fact that they can thus help specific people together with us,” says Petra Pavičová, Social Responsibility Manager at T-Mobile, adding: “Naturally, the biggest wave of solidarity was stirred by the story of the one-year-old Anna who lost both of her parents within a short period of time. Moreover, her mom, Iva, was our colleague.” 

The other proposed stories were no less tragic – brother and sister Jakub and Sára suffering from the very rare “storage” disease, little Tadeáš bravely fighting a malignant tumour, Lenka who was left completely paralysed after an accident, a little girl named Johanka with a hypotonic syndrome and epilepsy, and the three-year-old Matýsek fighting cancer. Each of these cases tells a story of a fight for life. 

What the operator’s employees most appreciated about the campaign was the fact that their employer placed utmost confidence in them. All that was needed to register a story was to stand as guarantor for the recipient of the donation, who was not required to document anything, but only had to provide his or her contact details for the purpose of preparing the donation agreement. 

“Since we decided to take care of the kids at home and opted for personal assistance instead of day-care centres, I’ve been trying to raise funds from foundations or civic associations so that they help pay at least part of the bills, which are getting bigger and bigger. However, this involves an incredible amount of paperwork – providing regular confirmations of continuing diagnoses from doctors, confirmations of income, of the social situation within the family, etc. I understand that this is necessary, but the simplicity of the process was yet another reason why I appreciated the spontaneous support from T-Mobile. All that was needed was that an employee guaranteed that we are really a family that needs help and nobody felt the need to bury us under a ton of papers and forms that would take me hours to complete. Our great thanks go to everybody at T-Mobile for their trust and generosity,” says Monika Zavadilová, Sára’s and Jakub’s mother. 

T-Mobile matched each contribution up to CZK 15,000 and if more than CZK 30,000 (CZK 15,000 from employees and CZK 15,000 from T-Mobile) was needed to support a story, the campaign continued but the amount so raised was then not matched by the company. An exception to that was the money raised for the little Anna, an employee’s daughter, where the operator decided to match all the money collected. 

The “Supporting Stories” campaign is not the only new activity within the T-Mobile Fund’s “LET’S HELP EACH OTHER” (“POMÁHEJME SI”) pillar, by means of which the company rewards volunteering and charitable activities and the responsibility of its employees who have long been involved as not only active volunteers but also as philanthropists. The historically first T-Mobile Volunteer of the Year was elected this year. The award went to Petr Macák, an employee at the Louny branch, who has for many years been actively involved in integrating the mentally disabled into mainstream society. 

More information about the T-Mobile Fund is available here.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.