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PGE is a partner to local communities, listening to their needs and incorporating them in its plans for sustainable transition. PGE Group ensures that entrepreneurs and employees in the energy industry as well as residents of coal regions are part of the entire transition process and actively participate in it.
In 2021, PGE Group continued its activities supporting the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, i.e. since March 2020, PGE and its companies and the PGE Foundation have allocated nearly PLN 9 million for this purpose, including over PLN 2 million in 2021. All of these actions were a response to the current needs of the healthcare system. These actions were coordinated with the Ministry of State Assets and the Ministry of Health.
PGE supported the construction of Covid wards and equipped them with medical equipment. The PGE Foundation also supported activities for children, young people and adults in the field of psychological assistance and covid rehabilitation. In addition, PGE Group made 10 cars available to hospitals and the Territorial Defence Forces, and supported the Institute of Senior Economy by donating over 100 litres of disinfectant fluids.
Donations from the PGE Foundation went to tens of hospitals, emergency stations and other medical facilities. They were earmarked for the purchase of necessary medical equipment for the treatment of patients suffering from COVID-19, equipment for automatic disinfection, and personal protective equipment.
Volunteering in the era of Covid-19
PGE volunteers were involved in helping Warsaw Uprising and other veterans, senior citizens and retired PGE employees by offering assistance with shopping, running essential errands and providing meals. At its peak, 52 volunteers were active. They looked after 12 Warsaw Uprising veterans and senior citizen.
In 2021, PGE employees engaged in voluntary work for the wards of a nursing home in Białystok. With the seniors in mind, bibliotherapy classes were organised which lasted from October to December 2021. The program was implemented by the PGE Foundation in cooperation with the Zaczytani.org Foundation as part of the „Reading with PGE” project. As part of the volunteer work, 99 bibliotherapy meetings were held online. They were conducted by 20 employees of PGE Group. During conversations with seniors, the volunteers read excerpts from books and then led discussions on selected topics. The aim of the bibliotherapeutic meetings was to activate senior citizens and create space for conversation and reflection. This volunteering campaign made it possible to establish intergenerational relations. Seniors received support from the volunteers and the volunteers gained new and unique competences.
Volunteering campaign "Bibliotherapy for seniors" in figures:
- 2 information meetings for PGE volunteers interested in participating in the program,
- 33 PGE volunteers were trained in bibliotherapy,
- 3 training meetings for volunteers with a total duration of 12 hours,
- 1 integration and training meeting for volunteers.
- 99 meetings between PGE volunteers and senior citizens in the form of bibliotherapy.
Several other projects were jointly carried out under the common motto „Reading with PGE.” These included a fairy tale writing competition for children entitled „The Tale of the Crooked Forest”, a collection of books and creation of an Enchanted Library for seniors. Books were collected in 47 locations in PGE Group. More than 4 000 books were distributed to Enchanted Libraries located in hospital wards, children’s homes, senior citizens’ homes, centres for people in crisis of homelessness, social welfare homes, hospices and others.
In 2021, employees of PGE Group companies, as they do every year, were involved in fulfilling dreams of children from orphanages, children in foster care and community centres. This includes:
- PGE Baltica, for the benefit of orphanages in Ustka,
- PGE Górnictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna in all its locations as part of the campaign: „Santas to Dreamers,”
- PGE Dystrybucja for over a dozen care and educational institutions in its area of operation as part of the „For the Child’s Smile” project,
- PGE Energia Ciepła within the framework of the „Gwiazdor” campaign. In addition, in cooperation with the City Social Welfare Centre in Gdynia, the company prepared Christmas parcels for senior citizens,
- PGE Energia Odnawialna for the benefit of pupils of the „Antares” Care and Education Centre in Sochaczew.
Employees of PGE Group companies support on an on-going basis educational and hospital care facilities in their areas of operations and take part in the „Noble Box” campaign. The organise donation and gift collection drives and prepare gift boxes for families in need.
Social campaign "Polish - I'm buying it!"
PGE has also become involved in efforts promoting responsible consumer attitudes. It initiated the nationwide social campaign „Polish – I’m buying it!” encouraging Poles to choose local producers and service providers and to make conscious consumer choices. The project was initiated by PGE Group employees and held under the patronage of the Ministry of State Assets.
In 2020, the blog „Polish – I’m buying it!” was launched in the internal media of PGE Group. And a dedicated website – polskiekupujeto.pl – was launched with a guide section, educational spots and posts encouraging people to choose Polish products. PGE Group companies from all over Poland were involved in creating content for the internal blog and the public website.
In developing the social campaign „Polish – I’m buying it!” PGE established cooperation with the creators of the Pola application, thanks to which it is possible to easily and quickly check whether a given product has been manufactured in Poland. Thanks to the cooperation with PGE, the application is being constantly developed, and the database of Polish products and companies is steadily expanding. PGE has also prepared an advertising spot and a tutorial showing how to use the Pola app and identify Polish products and brands both when shopping in stationary and online shops.
In the run-up to Christmas, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna launched a Christmas edition of the „Polish – I’m buying it!” campaign under the slogan „Let’s Support Polish Entrepreneurs and Manufacturers. Not only for Christmas!”. A guidebook was also prepared: „How to safely buy Polish products in online shops” available on polskiekupujeto.pl. It consists of articles focusing on the safety of online transactions and conscious consumer choices. It also contains information on how to use the Pola application when shopping online.
In mid-2021, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna conducted a survey asking Poles what influences their shopping decisions. The aim was to identify Poles’ shopping attitudes as well as to obtain their opinions on what should be improved to make the choice of Polish products easier for them. The survey results show that providing consumers with easy identification of the product’s origin at the time of shopping can have a real impact on the decision of what goes into their shopping basket. The survey was conducted as part of PGE’s social campaign „Polish – I’m buying it!” The survey results are available at: https://polskiekupujeto.pl/blog/pochodzenie-produktu-a-decyzje-zakupowe/
PGE Group also asked its employees to share their thoughts and approaches to everyday purchasing decisions. To this end, in December 2021 PGE conducted another survey of shopping preferences addressed this time to PGE Group employees. Almost 2,000 employees took part in the survey, which ended on January 14, 2022. The results show that internal educational activities as part of the „Polish – I’m buying it!” social campaign have a real impact on the purchasing decisions of PGE Group employees and their awareness of the need to support the Polish economy, especially during the pandemic.
The Jagiellonian Club, publisher of the Pola application, in cooperation with PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna, published a report in November 2021: „Leaders of conscious consumption. The most scanned companies of the Pola app,” which indicates the Polish products that most often find their way into the shopping basket of Poles.
The full report is available at: https://polskiekupujeto.pl/blog/aplikacja-pola-odzwierciedla-preferencje-zakupowe-polakow/
PGE shares the heat
For many years, PGE Energia Ciepła has been running the „Let’s Share the Heat” program, supporting the most in-need recipients in covering their heat and hot water bills.
„Let’s Share the Heat” aims to support individuals and institutions by subsidising their heat and hot water bills. The program is addressed to the most in-need recipients, including public benefit organisations using district heating in towns where PGE Energia Ciepła has its CHP plants.
Nurturing the national identity
PGE has been a strategic partner of the Warsaw Uprising Museum since July 2020, but has cooperated with the Museum since 2016, when it became its partner. In 2021, the Warsaw Uprising Museum prepared 225 stationary museum lessons and 433 online lessons. The stationary museum lessons were attended by 4 588 primary and secondary school students, while the number of views of the museum lessons online live within the framework of the Warsaw Uprising Museum Virtual Academy was 8,990.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced new standards of visiting and contacting people interested in the Warsaw Rising Museum. In 2021 the museum was visited by 266,173 people stationary, and 1.2 million online.
In 2021, PGE continued and expanded its cooperation with the Warsaw Uprising Museum. As part of this relationship, PGE is the patron of the museum’s original program: „Family meetings with history.” The aim of the program is historical education and the conveying of testimony of the participants of the uprising through family visits to this unique place and participation in activities conducted by educators from the museum in the form of an interactive game.
Within the framework of expanding the cooperation with the Warsaw Uprising Museum, PGE has financed the expansion of the audio-guide by adding more language versions, including German, French and Spanish. In recent years, the scope of cooperation has been expanding significantly and PGE has extended its patronage over multiple initiatives of the Museum. PGE also provides additional funding for purchasing valuable documents concerning the Warsaw Uprising. The documents supplement the priceless collection of archival materials. In 2021, with the support of the PGE Foundation, the Museum purchased a unique, previously unknown collection of German photographs of Warsaw from the period of the Warsaw Uprising.
In 2021, PGE once again joined the anniversary celebrations to mark the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. "Energy Workers in the Uprising" is a series of ceremonies that pay tribute to the energy engineers from the Warsaw power plant in Powiśle, who supplied electricity to the fighting capital city.
The ceremony on August 1, 2021 was specifically dedicated to the memory of Captain Stanisław Skibniewski „Cubryna,” who commanded a unit of employees from the Powiśle plant. On this occasion, PGE organised the premiere screening of a documentary film: „Nom de Guerre Cubryna” and a concert by musicians from the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, who performed a repertoire specially prepared for the occasion.
PGE also commemorated other anniversaries and holidays important to Poland. On the National Cursed Soldiers Remembrance Day, PGE prepared an animation to the song „One Moment” performed by #KasiaMalejonek and #Maleo Reggae Rockers from the „Panny Wyklęte” project. In this way, the company honoured the Unbroken Women – often anonymous Polish heroes who fought for independence:
On Independence Day, PGE prepared a film entitled „Energy Independence”, which presents the development of the renewable energy sector in the reborn Poland. In this way the company commemorated the 103rd anniversary of Poland’s regaining independence:
On Flag Day of the Republic of Poland, which is May 2, the PGE Foundation prepared a patriotic animation, reminding of the role of the national colours in recent Polish history. The animation is available here:
PGE Foundation
Socially responsible activities are also carried out by the PGE Foundation, which is an important element of PGE Group’s corporate social responsibility. The foundation’s activity profile results from PGE Group’s strategy, communication and marketing and brand strategy.
The Foundation supports historical, educational, environmental and social activities. It pursues its mission through its own and partner projects. It also makes charitable donations, projects in the field of cultivating historical memory and national identity, projects in the field of education, upbringing and sport. It supports health protection and promotion projects, projects related to environmental protection and ecology and many other. In 2021, the PGE Foundation received nearly 1 000 requests for donations. The Foundation made almost 500 donations for a total amount of over PLN 10 million.
In 2021, the PGE Foundation became a patron of the Virtual Museum of the Polish Underground State, which is an original project of the Foundation for Great Stories. A unique museum commemorating the Polish Underground State is being created in virtual space. More information about it is available here:
On Women’s Day, the PGE Foundation, the Foundation for Great Stories and the Virtual Museum of the Polish Underground State prepared an animation about Wanda Modlibowska, a Polish aviator, glider pilot and pioneer of domestic aviation:
The PGE Foundation, in cooperation with the Institute of National Remembrance and under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport, is carrying out a project entitled „Memory Plates.” The idea behind the project is to supplement and promote information on historical facts of occupied Warsaw among the inhabitants of Warsaw and Polish and foreign tourists.
Karol Tchorek’s plates are testimony to remembrance of the consistent plan of the Germans to exterminate the inhabitants of Warsaw during World War II. Through its activities, PGE promotes and increases the recognition of memorial sites and reaches foreign tourists with historical information. Within the framework of the project, next to each Karol Tchorek plate, PGE places a plate with information in Polish and English together with a QR code leading to a specially developed mobile application which enables the localisation of the existing plaques as well as learning about the history of each memorial site of German crimes. A website, tablicepamieci.pl has also been created, where one can follow updates on the project. In the autumn of 2021, a concert entitled Warsaw – City of Heroes was held at Plac Piłsudskiego. It was a tribute to all inhabitants of the capital, whose heroism and courage during the German occupation is often forgotten. The concert and accompanying exhibition were prepared by the Society for Educational Projects in collaboration with the PGE Foundation as part of the „Memory Plates” project.
Educational campaign "The Adventures of Ciepłosław the Cat"
In school year 2020/2021, the educational project „The Adventures of Ciepłosław the Cat” for children in primary school grades 1-3, prepared by PGE Energia Ciepła, was continued. Its aim is to raise environmental awareness in the youngest children, to convey knowledge about how heat is generated and where electricity comes from. The project takes into account the core curriculum of computer science lessons for children in grades 1-3, encouraging ecological attitudes, including saving heat and electricity and using system heat.
At the end of the school year, as part of the project „The Adventures of Ciepłosław the Cat,” PGE prepared an educational campaign for children entitled „Safe Holidays with Ciepłosław.” As part of the campaign, posters with tips for children on what rules to follow in the summer were prepared. In school year 2020/2021, 521 schools took part in the program.