AUDI AG Volunteer Day: pitching in together
A bare wall at a day nursery? Outdated play equipment in a kindergarten? Or refugees who need help speaking German? More than 250 Audi employees, including numerous board members, plant managers and works council members, took part in AUDI AG’s Volunteer Day at the end of September. They all helped in social welfare institutions locally and, for the first time, digitally too, actively pitched in and passed on their knowledge.
At the nursery “Schatzkisterl” in Pörnbach, a team of Audi employees created a mosaic wall.
With the support of the volunteers, for example, a colourful mosaic was created from broken tiles on a wall in the ‘Schatzkisterl’ day nursery in Pörnbach in the district of Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria.
The gardens of ‘Die Kleckse’ school kindergarten in Mosbach near Neckarsulm and of the Münsterkindergarten in Ingolstadt have now also been spruced up. And pupils from various refugee classes at the charitable social enterprise, Aufbaugilde Heilbronn, met Audi employees for an online language training session. There was also a wide variety of other commitments: from helping to build new play equipment and organising trips out for people with disabilities through to giving community organisations professional advice about their social media presence.
We live responsibility
The Volunteer Days initiative has been in place at Audi's various production sites since 2012. "Encouraging and supporting voluntary work is an integral part of our corporate culture," said Ute Röding, Head of Corporate Citizenship at AUDI AG. We put corporate responsibility into practice here for all to see, bringing it to life. "The Volunteer Day is in keeping with our understanding of corporate citizenship as being a good neighbour. We put that into practice at all our locations worldwide." The three pillars of action, "Engage", "Educate" and "Empower", provide a common orientation. That enables the company to create a uniform strategic framework for harmonising the social engagement with the respective region. The first pillar, "Engage", stands for helping with donations, social sponsorships, and active support. The second pillar, "Educate", includes teaching technical and language skills, and "Empower", the third pillar, stands for helping people to help themselves.
A football goal wall was renovated for the Ingolstadt Montessori school.
The powerful effect of the activity day reaches far beyond the Audi Volunteer Day itself. Thanks to the commitment of Audi employees, important social issues are coming more to the fore throughout the company.
Seeing the bigger picture strengthens social sensitivity. Cross-departmental collaboration, whether on-site or digitally, fosters team spirit and contributes to a positive corporate culture.
“Audi employees can do more than just build cars. They can also grind, drill and dig. No matter what we need doing, they all help such a lot.”
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Peter Kössler (r.) took an athletic approach and, together with a small team, renovated a football goal wall for the Ingolstadt Montessori school.
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A team of Audi employees did garden work at the St. Anna daycare center in Buxheim.
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At the kindergarten “Die Kleckse” in Mosbach, a team enhanced the playground on the premises.
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More than 250 employees have engaged in around 50 projects during their free time in support of social welfare institutions at both German locations in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. For the first time, many colleagues helped social organizations in digital projects.
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“It’s the team concept that is paramount. That Audi employees are out and about together in the region and doing good.”
Exchange platform for voluntary roles
Audi continues to develop opportunities for all Audi employees to volunteer in the community. That’s why the company will, in future, be providing a digital exchange platform that will make it even easier to search for and find volunteering opportunities for employees and community organisations.
The aim is to further develop Audi’s self-image as a good corporate citizen and to deepen identification with the regions where our sites are located. And this does not only apply on Volunteer Day: whole departments also regularly get involved in team activities in and for social welfare institutions.
This shared understanding of corporate citizenship is lived internationally at all production sites. One example of many: the common commitment during the coronavirus crisis in which Audi helped with donations worldwide.
In line with its corporate citizenship strategy, the company also regularly supports social welfare institutions with donations and is a social sponsor of regional sports and culture.
