Achmea Voor Elkaar
Achmea Voor Elkaar is Achmea’s platform in which employees can start or support social initiatives to make the Netherlands a bit healthier, safer or more future-proof. Employees can also raise money for charity. There are also social team outings on the platform.
More and more employees are signing up to volunteer or set up their own projects. Teams are also increasingly finding their way around and are discovering that a conference day can be effectively combined with voluntary work. This is a wonderful combination of work, being of use and making a meaningful contribution.
With Achmea Voor Elkaar, we are making an impact on the following Sustainable Development Goals:
- SDG 3 – Good health and well-being, and
- SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities: by offering activities for the elderly that enable them to continue living healthy and suitably at home. In a pleasant environment in which they also feel truly at home.
- SDG 13 – Climate action: by offering activities that contribute to sustainability. Activities appropriate to Sustainable Living. Together.
Volunteer work
Achmea stands for Sustainable Living. Together. An inclusive society in which everyone participates. Employees can contribute to this through various activities. The Achmea Voor Elkaar platform brings together supply and demand. On the platform, employees can look for volunteering opportunities, options for a social team day or a crowdfunding that the employee wants to support.
Help for Ukraine
The war in Ukraine is stirring up a great deal of emotions among colleagues. Particularly the desire to help in any way they can. In March 2022, colleagues Sjaak Hop and Paul Bijnen drove to Poland to pick up Ukrainian refugees and bring them to their host families. Various colleagues contributed ideas for concrete requests for help. Many of these colleagues have a partner from Ukraine, family or in-laws still in the country. For them in particular, the situation is worrying and getting very close to home.
Colleagues Sjaak Hop, portfolio manager for Proxies, and Paul Bijnen, product manager at Non-life & Income, had to do something. They joined forces with other colleagues. They arranged transport and drivers from their own network and spent this weekend in Poland with three vans picking up several women and children who had signed up for this through a friend of Sjaak’s. The entire operation was carried out under the close coordination of colleague Tessa de Mol-Van Valen (Achmea IT Data Analytics) and with help from colleagues Ciska Hovestadt (Achmea IM) and Linda Poelman (Non-life & Income), who arranged accommodation with host families where necessary. Ultimately, 20 people were picked up and had safe shelter arranged for them.
Colleague Robert IJsselstein of Centraal Beheer collected supplies for Ukraine. He received information from contacts in Ukraine on what items were needed, collected them and arranged for their transport.
A number of Achmea emergency response officers (EROs) also work as volunteers for the Red Cross. In their role as emergency response team members, they worked at the Harskamp reception centre. Here, they supported doctors and nurses with simple medical procedures.
Crowdfunding campaigns
Any employee can submit a request for a crowdfunding campaign. A committee decides each quarter which crowdfunding campaign to select. If 70% of the target amount is achieved, Achmea Foundation will double the amount raised. In 2022, we supported four crowdfunding campaigns.
Help for Ukraine
In addition to the extensive volunteer work carried out, our colleagues in Slovakia also set up a crowdfunding campaign. This crowdfunding has attracted donations that have far exceeded expectations. In total, colleagues donated €17,485. With this, the target amount of €15,000 was raised in no time. The Achmea Foundation doubled the amount, making €34,970 available for Ukraine. €30,000 went to our colleagues at Union in Slovakia. Through their health insurance branch, they provided direct assistance with medicine and supplies to hospitals in Ukraine. The remaining €5,000 was used to support other actions such as picking up refugees and housing them with host families.
Help tackle (cyber)bullying in schools with Kikid!
Yvonne Goos (Senior Advisor Media and Brand Research and CO Digital Marketing) is closely involved with Kikid. “The effects of bullying in school are still felt 40 years later.” A quote from a professor at King’s College London, one of the authors of the UK National Development Study. This is the first study to show the long-term effects of school bullying. The study's findings show that the effects of bullying at school are still felt 40 years later.
“It’s about time we stop saying that bullying is an inevitable part of growing up. Politicians and teachers need to know that this is not so and that the long-term effects of bullying are still being felt. It’s good that things are being done to stop bullying, but we also need to focus on prevention to avoid problems continuing into adolescence and adulthood.”
In short, (cyber)bullying is a major problem and we want – nay need – to do something about it! The Kikid Foundation wants to develop a project, in line with their proven effective method, which they can then use to structurally serve thousands of primary school pupils with an attractive, impactful and, above all, fun project that empowers them!
Help change the world for vulnerable young people
Colleague Edith de Bruin (Quality assurance officer) has started a crowdfunding campaign for the Route 66 Foundation. With the ongoing technologicalisation and digitisation of our society, we all now live in a virtual society. Many young people are online 24-7 and are inundated with information. They can no longer relax and cannot concentrate. Many sensitive young people are also unbalanced, feeling misunderstood by peers and those around them and experience loneliness.
Route 66 offers young people new perspective and meaning. Their mission is to achieve a sustainable and inclusive society in which people return to a natural balance in their own strength and in connection with each other. A new society in which people create together again and are happy with less and are committed to the Earth, our planet and food source, our children and grandchildren, our lives.
The small-scale and people- and nature-oriented Route 66 counselling programme offers young people a new opportunity and perspective. In an idyllic spot in the powerful natural environment of Gran Canaria, young people who have lost their way can unwind and rediscover themselves in 66 days.
Heart for people, support the food bank!
Did you know that more than 1 million people live below the poverty line in the Netherlands? But did you also know that, when we donate surplus food to them, no one has to go hungry anymore? This is good for people and the environment. The food bank helps 40,000 families every week with food aid. This helps the families out for a bit and reduces food waste. The volunteers at the food banks distribute food every week to people in dire temporary need. Companies, institutions, governments and individuals are helping with money, food and services. Karin van der Schaaf (communications advisor) worked to set up this crowdfunding campaign.
Social team outings
Starting in 2022, Achmea employees will be able to organise a social team day with the team or department. Colleagues can roll up their sleeves together by painting or taking on a gardening task, but there are also plenty of social projects to do. For example, taking the team on walks with elderly people to fight loneliness, playing sports with people with disabilities or organising a sports tournament with refugees. This enables colleagues to get to know each other in a different way and make an immediate social impact.
Stichting Present helps Achmea organise a social team outing that connects with Achmea’s issues. A nice team day fits well with the capabilities of a department or team. This is why Present likes to look at wishes and possibilities when organising projects. They look for a project that fits the schedule and prepare the project with the team or department. Through Present’s extensive network among care and welfare organisations, Present has good insight into the people who really need the help. This means that teams only start working with people with inadequate financial resources, fragile health and insufficient social networks of their own.
“Perfect way to combine team building and doing something good for someone else”
In summer 2022, Coen Nell and Sabine Tan organised a social team day in cooperation with the Achmea Foundation. Coen works as a lawyer for Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance in Amsterdam and was assigned to organise a team outing. “I was looking for something other than the usual”, Coen says, “where we could also do something for someone else.”
The social team day took place at Apenheul Primate Park and was organised by the Present Foundation and offered on the Achmea Foundation's Achmea Voor Elkaar platform. As an Achmea partner, Stichting Present helps organise this type of social team day to achieve a social impact together with Achmea employees.
Still, Coen’s team had to get used to the idea: “The response to my initiative has been mixed”, he says. The visit to Apenheul with the elderly was supported by attendants from the care home. This allowed the team to focus entirely on connecting with the seniors. “It was super well organised and my team all agree that it was very nice experience”, Coen stressed. The staff strolled around the zoo with a group of seniors, recalling stories of the past. “Some are quiet and calm, but everyone is visibly enjoying themselves”, Coen explains. After two long years of being indoors a lot, it is great for the seniors to get out and about. “You really notice that people want to tell their stories”, Coen says.
Sabine, who works as an employment expert at Achmea Personal Injury, also opted for a social team day at Apenheul: “We too immensely enjoyed the gratitude and enjoyment we gave these seniors”, Sabine says. While looking for a fun way to plan a team day, she came across the Achmea Foundation. One thing led to another and they, too, committed to making a social impact. Afterwards, they shared the lessons learned with each other with great enthusiasm over a joint lunch. “That way, you also grow closer together as a team.” Coen also agrees: “It’s the perfect way to combine team building and doing something good for someone else.”