Commitments
Local Communities
A global player committed to local communities
Alstom offers a full portfolio of solutions adapted to the cities, countries and regions that it serves. In doing so, the Company, whilst being a global player, seeks to develop a strong local presence. This reflects in its engagement with local communities: to have a positive impact, nurture good relationships and demonstrate long-term commitment.
Alstom in the community
Alstom’s Community Investment Policy focuses on 3 priorities:
- Meeting social needs through donations, local development, volunteering and the work of the Alstom Foundation
- Supporting education through partnerships with schools and universities
- Cultivating local enterprises through partnerships with local research centres and supporting local supply chains and start-ups
Alstom’s local community activities are performed under the banner of “Alstom in the Community” with 2 axes.
- The Alstom Foundation: a philanthropic organisation which finances local community-related projects around the world that are implemented by expert NGO partners.
- The Country Community Action Plans (CCAPs), developed each year, for the application of the Company’s Community Investment policy in all countries where Alstom has a significant presence.
The Alstom Foundation, giving back to our communities
Established in 2007, the Alstom Foundation focuses on 4 key areas:
- Economic and social development
- Environmental protection
- Access to mobility
- Access to energy and water
In 2018 it was decided to bring focus of the economic and social development axis to two distinct categories:
- Skill development and employability (especially for disadvantaged youth and women)
- Support for disadvantaged children (especially street children and orphans)
The Alstom Foundation only supports projects submitted by Alstom employees. All are conducted in strong partnership with local or global NGOs with a proven ability to implement the projects on the ground.
In 2019, the Foundation promoted a project of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation in India, which aims to facilitate access to secondary education to 899 young people in the Anantapur district, through the provision of bicycles. With this initiative, it is guaranteed that these youngsters from rural communities and disadvantaged populations, aged between 11 and 16, can attend school without having to walk long distances. The project includes not only the provision of bicycles, but also training for their maintenance and better awareness about the need of schooling.
Among the projects of the 2019 cycle, the Foundation has selected a Social Mobility Foundation project in Liverpool and the Railway Children project in the North West of England.
The Railway Children Safeguarding on Transport project, supported by Alstom, will help children and young people across the North West of England, home to several of Alstom’s sites including their train modernisation centre in Widnes.
The country community action plans (CCAPs)
Apart from the Foundation, Alstom also encourages local initiatives and volunteering through the Country Community Action Plans. While the Foundation follows a complex annual selection process at central level, the CCAPs are under the responsibility of local management in each country, ensuring quick responses to the possible multiple requests. Typical actions range from charity donations, fundraising and volunteering to the sharing of expertise (STEM – science, technology, engineering, mathematics) in schools and universities or general support to local projects.
- In Poland, Alstom employees engaged in the programme “We change kilometres into zlotys” employees were running, walking, cycling to achieve a goal of 100,000 km which triggered a financial donation from the company to an NGO supporting medical research
- In Brazil, employee volunteers participated in the Carrida do Saber, a race designed to raise money for an institution supporting disadvantaged children and youth in an area of Sao Paulo. The company paid the registration fees and provided food and refreshments.
- In France, Alstom collaborates with the association “Sport dans la Ville” to help students access employment through sports. 35 Alstom employee volunteers help drive this programme.
- In South Africa, the company Alstom Ubunye complemented the work of the Alstom Foundation by providing technical expertise, training and equipment to a local school to help it to establish a welding centre to provide marketable skills to local youth
- In Singapore, a team from the Alstom office participated in a coastal clean-up day aimed at removing debris from shorelines, waterways and beaches