Local Communities

“Pirelli intends to contribute to the prosperity and growth of the communities it operates in by providing efficient and technologically advanced services. Pirelli endorses and, where appropriate, gives support to educational, cultural, and social initiatives for promoting personal development and improving living standards. Pirelli does not provide contributions, advantages, or other benefits to political parties or trade union organizations, or to their representatives or candidates, this without prejudice to its compliance with any relevant legislation.”
(Ethical Code – The Wider Community)

Since it was founded in 1872, Pirelli has been aware of its major role in promoting civil progress in all communities where it operates. Consistently with the Ethical Code and the “Social Responsibility for Health, Safety and Labour Rights and the Environment” Policy, the Group developed a global strategy for protection of the territory, supporting health, education and training, environmental, cultural and sport initiatives.

SOCIAL SOLIDARITY, EDUCATION, TRAINING AND HEALTH

The Group’s support for social solidarity has deep roots. It dates back to the very birth of an enterprise that immediately confronted the most diverse situations around the world on its own path towards internationalisation. This is the case of Emergency, an Italian humanitarian association that provides assistance to the civil victims of war worldwide and of which Pirelli is one of the founding members. Some examples follow.

In Brazil, where the Group has been historically active with social initiatives, support for the “Projeto Guri” continued. This project offers musical instrument and singing lessons to 200 children from disadvantaged families. Pirelli also supports the “Projeto Santa Cruz”, which offers assistance to handicapped children, teenagers and youths, with diagnosis, rehabilitation and assistance for social integration in São Paulo. At Campinas, the site of a factory, Pirelli supports FEAC, a federation of 600 regional welfare institutions, in carrying out their administrative and financial obligations. In 2010 Pirelli contributed to remodelling of the Hospital Pequeno Principe a Curitiba, the largest pediatric hospital in Brazil, and supported the Aliança da Misericordia in São Paulo for the care of about 150 needy youths and children.

Other assistance was given to two day care centres, Asilo Nido Dr. Klaide in Santo André and AMIC in Campinas, in addition to the schools Educandario Imaculado Coracao de Maria in Amélia Rodrigues, and Scuola Cajueiro a Alter do Chao in Amazonia. The Group is committed to improving the life of needy and disadvantaged people not only in Italy and Brazil, but also in numerous areas around the world. In Turkey, it supports the ZICEV foundation for education and protection of mentally handicapped children, by assuming certain structural maintenance costs. Over the years, it has founded and helps support two schools near the production plant at Izmit, Türk Pirelli Primary School and Türk Pirelli High School.

In Argentina, Pirelli sponsored the pediatric ward of the Heroes de la Maldivia hospital and the marathon held by the Italian Hospital in Buenos Aires, collecting money for maintenance of the medical centre. In the United Kingdom, donations in 2010 were made to Queens Hospital Burton (for equipment), S t Giles Hospice, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Western Park Hospital, Transaid (for Tanzania), Alzheimers Society, Community Projects Carlisle (for homeless youth), Teenager Cancer Trust, Diabetes UK,   Eden Valley Hospice, Newcastle Children’s Cancer Fund, Children in Need, and others.

In Mexico, Pirelli supports the Fundacion Teleton, an important social project for rehabilitation of disabled children. In Romania, Pirelli assumed responsibility for the dental care of 110 children through the Overland for Smile project, in addition to the major programme for support of the Slatina Hospital, which includes the training of medical personnel at Niguarda Hospital in Milan. Other activities in Romania in 2010 included donations made for medical equipment to the Fundatia Dan Voiculescu Hospital, for the Don Orione physiotherapy centre, and to the IMSAS for medical support.

Major scholarships are awarded to the children of employees, needy and worthy individuals in the local communities and directly or indirectly through Rotary Clubs, to local universities in many countries including Italy, Romania, Turkey, Venezuela and others. In Romania, Pirelli funded technical training helpful for landing a factory job, while in the United Kingdom, the “ Chance to Shine” programme enables several youths to enter the working world. Special mention must be made of major initiatives in which Pirelli employees directly participate with their efforts and commitment. In Mexico, they support “ Casa Hogar” of the Fundacion Familiar Infantil I.A.P., a social project that addresses the basic needs of children whose parents are jailed.

Employees in various countries participated in making donations and collecting funds for victims of the natural disasters in Haiti and Moldova. On January 13th, 2010, Haiti was struck by a disastrous earthquake (which left 222 thousand confirmed dead, 300 thousand injured, 600 thousand people who have left the capital Port-au-Prince to seek shelter elsewhere, about 100 thousand buildings destroyed and 190 thousand buildings damaged). Pirelli and its employees immediately decided to give their support for reconstruction, launching a collection of funds to support the “ My time for Haiti” operation.

Every employee was able to choose whether and how much to donate in terms of their own working hours (which explains the title of the project, “My Time for Haiti”). The amount is then collected through deduction of the donated hours from the wages or salary of the individual donors. The company matched the amount collected by the employees, doubling it. This permitted the reconstruction of three schools in Haiti, two in the city of Belladère (Ecole Atenoir Furmin and Ecole Congreganiste Marie Jeanne, filles de Marie) and one in Anse-à-Pitre (Anse-à–Pitre Liceum).  The direct positive impact of the project was as follows: 4,000 Haitian children were able to return to school in just a few months (three schools had been entirely rebuilt by the end of 2010), in a new, secure and comfortable setting, a place for meeting and growth whose positive effects also impacted the families of the children themselves, for a total of about 20,000 persons. The Project led to the establishment of a successful and effective partnership between the Group and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which coordinated local reconstruction activities together with the NGO Plan International.

SPORT AND SOLIDARITY: A COMBINATION FOR GROWTH

There is a close link between solidarity and sport, in a virtuous circle where commitment to sports becomes synonymous with the commitment to promoting social solidarity and ethics, especially amongst young people. Two Inter Milan football players Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti, set up the project “Leoni di Potrero – Calcio per tutti” (Protrero Lions – Soccer for Everyone) a few years ago. It is a free training centre in Milan that is supported by Pirelli and targeted at children between 5 and 12 years of age. The objective is to participate in the development of young students, by fostering positive values such as friendship, loyalty, fidelity, respect and tolerance. This represents a way to teach the concept of integration to children from different social classes, working to prevent negative situations like isolation and loneliness.

The Group also sponsors baseball in Venezuela with the Pirelli Baseball School, attended by over 300 children and teenagers; basket and volleyball in Brazil, and football and cricket in the United Kingdom, to mention just a few activities. However, mention must be made of the “Inter Campus” in Romania.

CORPORATE CULTURE: FONDAZIONE PIRELLI

Pirelli has been recognised for over a century, both in Italy and around the world, as one of the most prestigious examples of “corporate culture.” The Fondazione Pirelli (Pirelli Foundation) was established in 2009 specifically in order to provide continuing, holistic and authoritative support for corporate culture. Its guiding principle is to promote the creativity of new generations of artists and researchers, offer a platform for the thought that links the tangible industrial experience  and memory conserved in the Historic Archive with the drive for design, while promoting the value of current experience as it gradually becomes history.

For more information about social initiatives, art, theatre and music promoted by Pirelli, see the online Report.