Intesa Sanpaolo: 2021-2022 Guidelines for the Charity Fund presented

PRESS RELEASE

INTESA SANPAOLO: 2021-2022 GUIDELINES FOR THE CHARITY FUND PRESENTED

Psychological support for individuals affected by Covid, employment opportunities and support for vulnerable young people

Endowments totalling 16 million euro, destined to non-profit projects

Turin/Milan, 13 April 2021 – This morning, the Guidelines for the Intesa Sanpaolo Charity Fund were presented, the document that will steer the Fund’s activity for the next two-year period, 2021-2022. The priority areas tackled include psychological support for individuals/subjects affected by the pandemic, employment opportunities, and young people. The guidelines confirm the requisites, deadlines and application methods for funding, non-repayable sums that the Bank makes to particularly deserving projects. The projects are identified by a selection process that takes into account their social impact and track record of the organisation. Applications must be submitted on the platform via this link: https://group.intesasanpaolo.com/it/sociale/fondo-di-beneficenza/come-richiedere-un-contributo.

In 2021, Intesa Sanpaolo’s Fund for Charitable, Social and Cultural Initiatives, coordinated by the Chairman, will be dispensing 16 million euro to support vulnerable individuals, funding projects by non-profit organisations that work to provide solutions to problems in Italy caused by the health, economic and social crises.

The 2019-2020 cycle has now ended successfully, having followed guidelines prioritising initiatives linked to some of the more pressing national problems, which have recently been intensified due to the pandemic - educational poverty and lack or non-completion of schooling, violence against women and children, and senile dementia.

Areas of intervention for the two-year period 2021-2022:

1. psychological support for individuals suffering from Covid and those most affected by the pandemic, in response to one of the many risks linked to the Covid-19 pandemic - signalled also by the World Health Organisation - the so-called pandemic fatigue, i.e. an aggregate of demotivation and struggling to follow those safety measures that are essential in tackling the health crisis. The fatigue tends to emerge in individuals faced with long-term adverse situations where mental health becomes an urgent and significant issue to be tackled, as important as actual virus containment. This area includes projects to assist health workers, Covid-19 patients and sufferers, families of virus victims, old people, caregivers, children, teenagers and young people with mental health problems.

2. training and introduction into workplace of vulnerable individuals, with particular attention to the new classes of poverty. One of the post-Covid 19 dangers in the employment market is in fact growing polarisation in the world of work, with a higher number of people left without the tools necessary to survive the economic crisis, and an increasingly favoured small minority. Added to this are the effects on family life, with women often obliged to give up their jobs in order to take care of the family and fulfil all the responsibilities assigned to them. This area includes support for projects to assist the unemployed who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19; training and introduction into the workplace of women; actions to help the long-term unemployed and lowly-educated individuals find jobs; employment opportunities for the disabled; strengthening of professional and transversal skills, and career guidance, etc.

3. support for vulnerable teenagers and young people, an issue that tends to be underestimated in Italy, with many problems still to be tackled (loss/lack of schooling, NEET, unemployment and risk of poverty for under-35s, etc.), which risk deteriorating further due to indirect effects of the health crisis. Thus, projects receiving support include workshops to promote (re)motivation of study for those planning to abandon their studies or who have already decided not to continue; services to strengthen digital skills and individual support for online study; implementation of specific social welfare measures (also remotely) organised for the age group between adolescence and young adulthood; professional training courses and support for continued study among more vulnerable youngsters leaving high school; psychological support for young people trying to give up addictions (alcohol, drugs, online gambling, electronic devices and social networks) and those suffering from the effects of depression, anxiety, solitude and social isolation; combatting bullying and cyberbullying, etc.

As well as these priorities, the Charity Fund will continue to support projects linked to other important social issues such as the fight against educational poverty and family abuse/violence in all forms, health poverty, physical and mental disabilities and, on a regional level, inclusive amateur sport. Part of the funding will be supplied to the Banca dei Territori to support (with sums of less than 5,000 euro each) projects with direct local impact, representative of the community in question and identified by the Regional Branches.

The Fund will also assist initiatives presented by religious organisations to combat poverty and social exclusion, benefitting disadvantaged and socially marginalised individuals (religious area) as well as scientific research for projects designed to improve life quality for people, with possible solutions to serious problems or emerging needs (medical area).

Also on an international scale, the Fund will continue to fight poverty in the world, to ensure the growth of all populations, with support projects in countries where Intesa Sanpaolo operates with foreign subsidiaries, measures in countries with a low/medium Human Development Index, and support for actions in poor or developing countries hit by natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and droughts.

The Charity Fund’s actions are designed to help attain social welfare goals included in the Bank’s Business Plan and sets out to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals established by the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations.

The Fund for Charitable, Social and Cultural Initiatives, which is provided for by Intesa Sanpaolo’s Articles of Association, is coordinated by the Bank's Chairman and allows the allocation of part of the profits to charity and to support projects that revolve around solidarity, social utility and value of the individual. In line with the principles of the Group's Code of Ethics, the goal is to share with the community the Bank’s focus on individuals, human rights, economic and social solidarity, sustainable development, environmental protection and the promotion of cultural initiatives in favour of disadvantaged groups. For additional information:

https://www.group.intesasanpaolo.com/scriptIsir0/si09/banca_e_societa/ita_fondo_beneficenza.jsp.

Endowments are allocated following a selection process based on specific criteria, and include local donations (for sums up to 5,000 euro), to support projects and initiatives that have a local impact, as well as central donations, to support larger projects. This activity is part of the Group's efforts to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals established by the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations.

Press information

Intesa Sanpaolo

Media and Associations Relations

Media Office for Institutional, Social and Cultural Activities

stampa@intesasanpaolo.com

https://group.intesasanpaolo.com/en/newsroom/news

Intesa Sanpaolo

Intesa Sanpaolo is the leading Bank in Italy and one of the soundest and most profitable banks in Europe. It offers commercial, corporate investment banking, asset management and insurance services. The Intesa Sanpaolo Group has approximately 14.6 million customers in Italy who are assisted through both digital and traditional channels and 7.2 million customers abroad with subsidiaries operating in commercial banking in 12 countries in Central Eastern Europe and Middle Eastern and North African areas and an international network of specialists in support of corporate customers across 26 countries. Intesa Sanpaolo is recognized as one of the most sustainable banks in the world. For the Group, creating value means being a driver for growth, for the benefit of both society and the economy. As regards the environment, the Group has set up a 6-billion-euro fund for the circular economy. Intesa Sanpaolo supports major economic inclusion and poverty reduction projects, including an impact fund of 1.5 billion euro for loans available to social groups who struggle to access credit. Intesa Sanpaolo has a high level of involvement in cultural initiatives, organised by the Bank or in collaboration with other entities in Italy and further afield. These include permanent and temporary exhibitions showcasing the Bank’s impressive artistic heritage at the Gallerie d’Italia, the Group’s museums located in Milan, Naples, Vicenza and soon Turin.

Last updated 13 April 2021 at 11:14