Corporate Social Resposibility

Links between CSR & Mutual Assistance

CSR activities can be used to fund mutual assistance mobility abroad or alternatively – organisations can organize CSR for larger enterprises as a fundraising activity that could support a mutual assistance mobility project.  

What is CSR?

Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable responsible business/ Responsible Business)is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company`s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders.

Positive example

Please find below information about the type of activities that Bhagavat Educational Trust has organized in the past to help the largest bank in the Euro zone fulfill their CSR strategy.

In 2008, instead of sailing yachts or playing golf at luxurious resorts for their annual team building event – they decided to renovate a Bulgarian orphanage in 1 day………

All funds raised by Bhagavat Educational Trust through the coordination of this event were invested into the charity’s mutual assistance projects.

From BET website:

Building upon our success in hosting many events in Bulgaria, we also offer a variety of Team Building Activities in the form of Team Challenges.

There are several challenges open to a variety of people including:

1. Individuals who would like to meet new people and undertake a rewarding challenge
2. Groups of individuals from an organization, such as a church
3. Corporate Team Challenges

Team Challenges offer an exciting and rewarding experience in order to nurture productive relationships. As an experienced host in Bulgaria we have a wealth of knowledge and can assist with all your arrangements including:

1. The project and itinerary
2. Accommodation
3. Visas and vaccinations
4. Travel arrangements
5. Support staff including translators

We can match the Team Challenge to your budget, regardless if you are an individual or a corporate wishing to capitalize on such an event to promote business and take advantage of the price disparity between the United Kingdom and Bulgaria.

Each Team Challenge will be assisting orphanages in Bulgaria. Currently, within our project there are 23 orphanages all desperately requiring assistance. The last Team Challenge we hosted for a very large European Bank, whereby 65 managers from all over Europe attended, for one complete day they worked on an orphanage to the north of the capital Sofia and undertook the following:

1. Complete installation of a playground
2. Complete painting and decorating of a corridor on the top floor including 15 murals
3. Repairs to the steps and pavements
4. Tiling and decorating an art room

The project had a profound effect on all those participating.

The orphanage benefited from the improved facilities, but more importantly than this the children benefited, realizing that other people care enough to visit and help, that they are not forgotten!!

The Team benefited greatly as well, at the end of the day there is a little concert provided by the children, this is a very emotional part of the challenge, a true time to reflect usually with every member promising one day to return. Often during such a day, natural leaders emerge and inhibitions are overcome. As one member of the last team indicated, “this is the most memorable and rewarding of all off-sites”

The local community, we try as far as possible to involve the local community, this could be in the form of builders offering advise, materials needed in readiness for the challenge, local staff etc. These projects often help by providing finance to the local community and work experience.

We can of course tailor your Team Challenge to your requirements here are a few elements we can include:

1. Sight seeing
2. Excursions
3. Fitness and Spa retreats
4. Conference facilities
5. Camping

We hope that our website will inspire you and that in the not too distant future you will reflect on having completed a momentous challenge, and have the satisfaction of having helped somebody that really needed it.