Did you know that March 18th is World Social Work Day? This special day highlights the vital role of care and respect across communities in strengthening communities and building a better and more inclusive society. In celebration, we are excited to announce our latest selection of initiatives for the Helping Those Who Help (HTWH) programme. These initiatives will receive a total of €175,000 in grants to continue making a meaningful impact.
Dear to Candriam’s employees, who are directly involved in its organisation, HTWH supports small social-impact projects worldwide. All projects submitted by employees are carefully evaluated by the HTWH Committee led by Amandine Lesieur, who works as a Senior Project Manager in the Data Management team.
Amandine underlines the personal involvement of employees:
Staff members are really committed: not only do they bring some light on projects that they personally support, but they are in charge of overseeing how our donations are used. It is extremely rewarding for us all to measure the impact of our partnerships on the ground, how peoples’ lives are positively impacted.
The charities we support are either long-term partners, that we have helped continuously for several years, or new additions selected in our annual campaign. This year, fourteen organisations were selected. Discover the list hereafter :
- In Italy
- Fondazione Together To Go Onlus
Specialised care including music therapy for children and young people with neurological pathologies - Associazione Aliseo Onlus
Addressing different issues related to alcohol addiction among women in the Turin area - Associazione L'abilità Onlus
Offering services for accessibility and inclusion, and notably Labilibus, a minibus equipped to transport children with disabilities
- Fondazione Together To Go Onlus
- In France
- CAMI Sport et Cancer
An innovative and inclusive sports therapy program for seniors affected by cancer in Saint Louis Hospital in Paris - Ovale et Sens
Empowering young adults with intellectual disabilities through rugby, promoting personal growth and values such as teamwork and self-esteem - La Gamelle de Jaurès
Emergency accommodation for vulnerable populations in exile
- CAMI Sport et Cancer
- In Belgium - Potentia ASBL
Striving to improve the well-being of young populations and prevent school dropouts through skill development and motivational workshops. - France / Moldavia: Bibliothèques Sans Frontières
Libraries in Moldavia - Strengthening the resilience of populations by creating innovative cultural and learning spaces that allow those affected by crisis or precarity to learn, play, build communities and construct their future - France / Marocco: AAA - Action Autonomie Avenir
Managing development projects in Nepal and the High Atlas region of Morocco, including school infrastructure, fruit tree planting, beekeeping training, health facilities, water reservoirs and programmes to support education, children and women in need - In Portugal: Just a Change
Rebuilding homes for people in need in Portugal, improving living conditions to reduce poverty and crime, improve public health and restore hope for a better future - In Spain: Fundación Amigos de Monkole
Ensuring health equity in African communities, providing essential health services and empowering individuals to lead healthy, fulfilling lives, guided by the belief in universal access to quality health care. - In the UK
- Making The Leap
A social mobility charity providing less advantaged young people with opportunities to develop the skills, behaviours and attitudes that will allow them to fulfil their potential and get into meaningful employment - The Neno Macadamia Trust
Improving food security in Malawi through macadamia agroforestry, enabling smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change and build resilience
- Making The Leap
- In Kenya: From Trash to Trade, by Miss Koch Kenya(MKK)
A waste management project led in the Korogocho slum of Nairobi: Building an operational plastic recycling value chain and supporting circular economy as a way to improve the community’s health, biodiversity, education, and create “green jobs”
Since 2001, the HTWH programme has donated close to € 2.3 million to 120 associations, supporting 227 charity projects.
Spotlight on: Potentia ASBL
"Help young people unveil their own skills and strengths, grow self-confidence and find motivation"
POTENTIA is a Belgian association whose mission is to help teenagers facing difficulties at school in a general context of lack of self-confidence and motivation.
There are plenty of reasons that can explain why teenagers may feel overwhelmed or lost at sea: family issues, poor results at school, struggle to focus, excessive pressure, lack of self-discipline, isolation, bullying, anxiety about the future… Add to this the pressure of social media, the toll of several months of online school during Covid… Today’s world is particularly fierce for our young ones!
Potentia offers a safe space and a caring environment centered on the needs of teenagers, who can discover and develop new skills and strengths through creative activities in an environment that emphasizes respect, listening and sharing. The teenagers are welcome to stay for short full periods (three months renewable) – it is like going to school every day, but in a different place with different activities in personalised and group workshops: drawing, music, creative design, self-awareness trainings. By gaining trust in their learning abilities, teenagers build self-confidence and find motivation.
Potentia focuses on teenagers but also places them at the center of a comprehensive taskforce that includes many other stakeholders in the project: the Potentia team, but also the teenager’s family, school, and doctor. This ecosystem is key to the success of the project.
Sophie Deleuze, Lead ESG Sovereign Analyst at Candriam, is the sponsor of Potentia within HTWH. She explains why she presented this initiative to the Committee and applied for funding.
Since Covid, I have seen quite a few teenagers around me lose taste for learning, discovering, or even for life. The current world is clearly stressful for us all, and young populations are particularly vulnerable. There are not many places offering a safe bubble of benevolence to these young disorientated people. Giving them a perspective and a purpose, and also helping them emerge from isolation, is both moving and Inspiring! A little nudge may be sufficient to have big impact
What she particularly liked about Potentia is the fact that nature is often at the heart of the learning pathways.
One of the pillars of the Candriam’s Institute for Sustainable Development is to support the empowerment of young generations. Helping them develop their talents, self-confidence and willingness to find their place in society, in harmony with others, is for sure a worthy endeavour with a long-lasting potential impact.