International Projects

Doing good – Fundraising for sick children
The staff at Volkswagen Financial Services Australia have been supporting the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation through fundraising since 2019. The Foundation has dedicated itself to ensuring that every child receives first-class medical care at all times. Every year, it helps more than 150,000 children in New South Wales, a state in Australia's southeast. As part of their fundraising, company employees have realized charity runs, for example. The project funding totaled EUR 7,000 in 2019.

Help for young patients
Volkswagen Financial Services Brazil support the non-profit Little Prince Hospital complex in Curitiba, in the south of Brazil. In addition to the pediatric hospital, the various units of the Pediatric Specialty Center also include a research institute and a training college for medical personnel and healthcare professionals. The organization depends on supporters like Volkswagen Financial Services because the public healthcare system only covers 60 percent of the total costs incurred. Around EUR 125,000 has been given to fund the vital work of this center since 2013.

Simple but effective
As part of the renovation of the headquarters of Volkswagen Financial Services Brazil in 2017, the company installed a rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge system for toilets, gardens and air-conditioning systems and for the general cleaning of the outside areas. Around five million liters of water have already been treated and used since it was put into operation. That corresponds to one third of the annual demand and also enables the company to react accordingly in times of water shortage.

Helping children and young people with music
At the Instituto Baccarelli it is children and youngsters who play first fiddle. Volkswagen Financial Services Brazil has been supporting the non-profit organization since 2002. Every year, the institute enables more than 1,000 children and youngsters from disadvantaged families to enjoy a musical education of a high standard. Volkswagen Financial Services Brazil funds the Baccarelli project with around EUR 40,000 each year.

Building self-confidence and opportunities through sport

Volkswagen Financial Services Brazil has been supporting the soccer and volleyball education program Bola Bacana since 2013 to help children and youngsters from socially disadvantaged families. The non-profit initiative, which receives around EUR 100,000 a year from the national subsidiary in Brazil, offers more than just sports lessons. The Bola Bacana teachers regularly monitor how the participants are doing at school and their academic performance is assessed together with the schools every two months.

Making the dearest wishes of seriously ill children come true
Volkswagen Credit Canada, Inc. has been giving its support to the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada since 2015. This is the only Canadian wish-granting charity dedicated to fulfilling wishes for children between the ages of three and 17 who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. The company enables its employees to contribute to the Children's Wish Foundation by volunteering at events in Toronto and Montreal, at which more than a million Canadian dollars are raised every year. In addition, the company itself donates around EUR 40,000 a year to various chapters of the Children's Wish Foundation throughout Canada.

Volkswagen Financial Services China supports the format of the Finance Talk Show. Here, the public has the opportunity to acquire broad financial knowledge, enhance their own risk awareness, and highlight the social responsibility of companies with the aim of shaping a sustainable financial environment.

Paraplegia changes your life
Life can change from one moment to the next. To help patients with spinal cord injuries, Volkswagen Financial Services Czech Republic has been supporting the Centrum Paraple since 2015. This non-profit organization, which is based in Prague and helps the disabled from all over the country, is financed to 50 percent through donations. The paraplegic center advises patients after their rehabilitation therapy, for example, and helps them lead a self-determined and active life.

Voluntary engagement
Volkswagen Financial Services Czech Republic motivates its employees to do voluntary work and supports them in doing so. The company works closely together with the HESTIA Center, for example, which serves as an umbrella organization to promote and develop volunteering throughout the country. The non-profit organization helps find suitable voluntary assignments for interested individuals and supplies ideas for special activities, such as for children, senior citizens or the unemployed. The employees of Volkswagen Financial Services are regularly involved in various projects, do things like repair play equipment, help out in the garden, or just simply spend time talking to those in need.

Help in old age
Volkswagen Financial Services Czech Republic believes it is important to help the elderly. The company has been supporting the Sue Ryder initiative since 2010. The focus of this non-profit organization lies on being there for the elderly, providing them with care, and enabling them to lead a dignified life. Sue Ryder runs homes for the elderly and organizes charity events. Volkswagen Financial Services Czech Republic regularly takes part in the Sue Ryder Charity Cup and, among other things, has financed ceiling lifts for the homes to help improve the mobility of the residents.

Caught in a dark and silent world
Running for a good cause – helping deaf-blind children, youngsters and adults is the aim of those employees at Volkswagen Financial Services Czech Republic who regularly take part in the charity run of the non-profit LORM organization and thereby support its various campaigns. Those with severe vision or hearing impairments have a hard time in a society that rarely takes their needs into account. This applies all the more so for deaf-blind people, who lack the two most important senses they need to communicate and orientate themselves in their environment. Volkswagen Financial Services Czech Republic has been a trustworthy partner for the LORM organization since 2006.

Strengthening voluntary work
Volkswagen Financial Services encourage and promote the social commitment and charitable activities of their employees. The company supports innovative and original projects linked to the Braunschweig region with a one-off sum of up to EUR 5,000. The employee must be personally involved in the project for the funding to be awarded. Funding for the voluntary civic engagement of employees has, for example, already benefited the circus project of the booster club for the primary school and children's day care facilities in Veltenhof, the children's cancer care association in Gifhorn, the Semmenstedt volunteer fire brigade, and the refugee support association in Papenteich.

Enabling access to art
The "Art Mobile" bus provided by Volkswagen Financial Services drives schoolchildren in the Braunschweig region to the Wolfsburg Museum of Art free of charge. The successful cooperation between Volkswagen Financial Services and the Wolfsburg Museum of Art has existed since 2002. The bus is technically equipped so that pupils can watch a film during the journey to prepare them in a fun way for their visit to the museum. The total number of pupils who have visited the art museum in this way from the start of the project up to 2021 is 82,877. The scope of the project was extended in 2003. Senior citizens from various institutions such as residential homes and community centers were also given the chance to make an excursion to the art museum, take in its sights and then enjoy a coffee in its restaurant afterwards. 8,892 senior citizens (as at 2020) have since taken advantage of this bus shuttle offer.

Helping children from socially disadvantaged families
The non-profit "Our Children in Braunschweig" foundation, which was established by Volkswagen Financial Services AG in December 2008, focuses on socially disadvantaged children. Nine institutions – day care centers, primary schools and secondary schools – are currently provided with long-term, needs-based funding for educational offerings, initiatives to promote a healthy diet, movement training, and early musical teaching. Various other facilities, such as sports clubs, a family centre, the public health department and youth clubs, are supported through one-off campaigns.

Volkswagen Financial Services and NABU, the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, have been working together since 2009 to protect moors and restore them to their natural state. This is because moorland is exceptionally important for both climate protection and biodiversity. Since the beginning of the cooperation, Volkswagen Financial Services have provided six million euros to NABU for national and international moorland conservation projects. As a result, 13 moors covering a total of around 640 hectares have been protected and restored throughout Germany. Internationally, the focus of moorland conservation efforts is on Eastern Europe. The first project is located in the Slowinski National Park on the Polish Baltic Sea coast. 

More information here.

In addition to moorland conservation, Volkswagen Financial Services are also actively involved in the renaturation of rivers, i.e. their transformation back into near-natural flow and habitat conditions. The aim is to achieve greater biodiversity of flora and fauna as well as reliable flood protection. Around EUR 800,000 has already been invested in specific projects along the River Schunter (Braunschweig) and the River Aller (Verden).

More information can be found here.

Internship as a bridge to the labor market: Volkswagen Financial Services gives refugees with vocational IT qualifications the chance to obtain supplemental adjustment and upskill training within the company so that their prior vocational qualifications are officially recognized. Their opportunities on the labor market are increased by completing such training.

The mission: a clean India
Around half the population of India has no toilet at home. Volkswagen Financial Services India is therefore supporting the project to build sanitary facilities in schools as part of the Indian government initiative "Clean India: Clean Schools". Inadequate sanitary facilities have far-reaching effects on health, and children are the hardest hit. The most common cause of death among children up to five years of age is diarrhea. Volkswagen Financial Services India has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity and the two partners have already built sanitary facilities in the following five schools:

1.     Sarvotam Higher Secondary Gujrati Medium School,         Rakholi village in Silvassa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli

2.     Government High School, B Narayanpura,         Bangalore, Karnataka

3.     Government Higher Primary School, B Narayanpura,         Bangalore, Karnataka

4.     Government Model Higher Primary School, Gunjur,         Bangalore, Karnataka

5.     Government High School, Immadihalli, Bangalore,         Bangalore, Karnataka

Around EUR 490,000 has been donated to the project since funding started. 

Initiative for children from socially disadvantaged families
Volkswagen Financial Services India supports the non-profit organization Avanti Fellows. The initiative enables many hundreds of schoolchildren from socially disadvantaged families to go to university each year. During their studies, the organization pays for the costs of tuition, accommodation, meals and travel. Volkswagen Financial Services India has been supporting the initiative since 2016 with annual funding of around EUR 104,300.

Scarce and precious
Since 2015, Volkswagen Financial Services India has been supporting the three villages Lonar Bhaigaon, Khedgaon and Kauchalwadi, which are among those most severely affected by drought in the Indian state of Maharashtra, with the construction and maintenance of dams and water channels. To this end, Volkswagen Financial Services India entered into a partnership with the Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR) in India as part of its corporate responsibility initiative. The project aims to provide a sustainable water supply to the people in the rural region and thus improve the health and economic situation of the population. The Volkswagen Financial Services employees also support the communities in their free time, for example by helping remove sludge from existing waterways or by building dams and ponds. Around EUR 87,000 flows into the project each year.

Fundraising for a children's hospital

At the end of 2018, the employees at Volkswagen Financial Services Ireland and Volkswagen Group Ireland jointly founded a fundraising committee. Its objective is to raise funds for the Temple Street Children's Hospital. At the start of the following year, staff from both companies collaborated with the Temple Street Foundation to come up with ideas for collecting donations for the children's hospital. As a result they staged events like the "Great Irish Bake", the "Women's Mini Marathon", or a tombola.

Financially literate

In order to give young people the know-how they need to manage money, Volkswagen Financial Services Japan (VWFSJ) has been supporting Finance Park, a non-profit financial education program for students, in Tokyo since 2015. The Finance Park is located in a public junior high school in the center of Tokyo, just 15 minutes walking distance from the VWFSJ office. Here, the young people learn the theoretical and practical aspects of everyday finance and draw up a budget plan at the end of their training. Six other leading companies are involved in this initiative. Only one company from each sector can be a sponsor – and Volkswagen Financial Services Japan represents the automotive industry. VWFSJ supports the project with annual funding of around EUR 4,000.

High school program for socially disadvantaged youngsters in Puebla City
Volkswagen Financial Services Mexico has been supporting the "Preparatoria" project, a high school program for socially disadvantaged youngsters in Puebla City, since 2015. This sustainable project was developed in collaboration with the Universidad de las Américas and the Office for Family Development of the State of Puebla. Through this program, young people are given the opportunity to finish school and complete a technical training at the same time. They are therefore able to qualify for the labor market if they do not attend college. Volkswagen Financial Services Mexico helps ensure that the tuition is free for all the pupils. Around EUR 9,800 is donated to the project each year.

Giving children a perspective
Many children in Mexico live on the streets. Volkswagen Financial Services Mexico has been supporting the "Quiera Foundation", a non-profit organization devoted to helping street children, since 2011. The foundation runs 53 care centers across the country, where socially disadvantaged children and youngsters can get help and advice, go to school, and so gain a new perspective in life. Volkswagen Financial Services Mexico helps fund the project with around EUR 5,000 each year.

Admission free
The aim of the "Capilla del Arte" project is to give people of all ages free access to museums, galleries and other cultural events. Volkswagen Financial Services Mexico has been supporting this project, which was conceived in cooperation with the Universidad de las Américas (UDLAP), since 2011. The cooperation has enabled UDLAP to expand its program. In addition, Volkswagen Financial Services Mexico also organizes an annual festival for around 45,000 visitors. The company supports the project each year with around EUR 11,000.

Equal educational opportunities for children and young people
Volkswagen Financial Services Mexico has been the main sponsor of the summer institute "Enseña por México" ("Teach for Mexico") since 2012. The non-profit organization is committed to ensuring equal educational opportunities for children and young people from the poor regions of Mexico, where millions lack the support and opportunity they need to thrive. Enseña por México is also a member of the globally recognized leadership program "Teach for All". University graduates are recruited and trained under the program, after which they devote two years of their professional life to the organization to teach at schools in marginalized communities in Mexico. Enseña por México welcomes around 200 new university graduates to its cause every summer. Volkswagen Financial Services Mexico supports the project with around EUR 12,500 each year.

Lagoon conservation in San Baltazar
The San Baltazar Lagoon is a place that preserves the diversity of the region. The area covers 12.7 hectares, with 6.4 hectares being water. It is considered the lungs of the city of Puebla and is home to 1,350 trees and a significant number of local animal species. To improve the water quality of the lake, Volkswagen Financial services are currently supporting the conservation program of this natural area by installing an aeration system that operates by means of a bubble diffuser with an oxygen enrichment capacity of 2 hectares. In addition, a pest control program has been implemented to improve the health of the trees. This initiative has also been taken up by company staff, who are able to attend training sessions on tree care.

Volkswagen Financial Services are committed to nurturing and promoting an environmental culture through the implementation of a green agenda. This agenda supports the care and maintenance of 2,000 trees planted by the Anahuac University in 3 green areas in the city of Puebla through monitoring and reforestation days involving volunteer work and also includes environmental education workshops for children. In 2021, the program received a grant of EUR 6,100. 

Specially developed ambulances for patient transports

Stichting Ambulance Wens Nederland is a group of 270 medically trained volunteers who fulfill daily free final wishes of immobile (people who depend on ambulance transport) terminal patients with the help of specially developed ambulances.

Volkswagen Pon Financial Services supports the foundation by organizing activities with the aim of raising money. Volkswagen Pon Financial Services also donates two new Volkswagen ambulances so that even more wishes can be fulfilled.

Where people with disabilities work
Work also gives people with intellectual disabilities the chance to boost their self-esteem, be independent, achieve social recognition, and live with confidence within the community. That is also a reason why Volkswagen Møller Bilfinans has awarded all its work revolving around packaging, labeling and dispatch to the Fossheim Verksteder Foundation. The non-profit organization offers people with disabilities a sheltered workshop environment and employment to suit their personal abilities and talents. Volkswagen Møller Bilfinans supports the foundation with funding of around EUR 2,300 each year.

The Møller Mobility Group, the joint venture partner of Volkswagen Financial Services in Norway, has initiated the Møller Medvind project to integrate young people into the workforce through permanent employment. A collaborative project has been established with the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration to hire young individuals who have left the job market for various reasons. Møller Medvind has opened two offices in Norway to cosmetically refurbish cars for resale (i.e. after a lease period). Møller Medvind makes it possible for employees to receive appropriate training and acquire certificates for the jobs in question and also provides soft skills courses. The main objective is to offer permanent employment to as many participants as possible, either within Møller Medvind or as part of the Møller Mobility Group system.

Time for orphans
The employees at Volkswagen Financial Services Poland have been supporting an orphanage in Chotomow in eastern Poland since 2014. They renovated rooms, for example, laid out a garden, and built a playground. More than 300 colleagues are involved in the two-day event, which takes place every year. The company also helps the orphanage in the form of Christmas gift campaigns, in-kind donations, and educational projects.

The weaker can also be winners
Play and movement are of huge importance for children. That also applies to children with a disability. The Fundal Foundation supports the social integration of people with disabilities, especially children, and has been in alliance with UNICEF since 2004. Volkswagen Financial Services Spain has been supporting the foundation with around EUR 15,000 each year since 2014.

Education makes girls strong
Volkswagen Financial Services South Africa took over the costs of renovating and equipping the laboratory at the Lofentse Girls High School in Soweto. The lab was officially handed over to the school in 2017. As part of its corporate responsibility initiative, Volkswagen Financial Services South Africa entered into a partnership with the SA Medical and Education (SAME) Foundation, which accepts donations for corporate social initiatives. In addition to healthcare, a further focus of this non-profit organization lies on education, with the goal of giving children and youngsters in very poor communities the chance to develop their potential at school. The foundation identified and registered 50 high-impact and sustainable projects across the country, including the project at the Lofentse Girls High School.

Kindling an interest in music and history
Volkswagen Financial Services South Korea has been supporting an education program for schoolchildren since 2016. One-day events for around 200 participants regularly take place as part of this program. The youngsters listen to exciting talks on subjects such as history and music. Volkswagen Financial Services South Korea provides the project with funding of around EUR 62,000 each year.

Collecting refuse together on the beach
The pollution of the sea with plastic waste is a serious problem. Collecting refuse and cleaning up the beach makes a valuable contribution towards protecting the environment. And when they take part in the coastal clean-up initiative coordinated by the European Chamber of Commerce, employees at Volkswagen Financial Services Taiwan regularly invite their family and friends along to help them.

Practical environmental protection
Taking responsibility for the environment and society: the employees of the Volkswagen Financial Services Taiwan market participated in the Jane Goodall Institute Green Thumb Project. As part of the project, they hand-planted various native plants of Taiwan under guidance, hoping to attract insects and animals and create a richer ecological environment.

Support for hospice work
The Willen Hospice is located in Milton Keynes (the UK headquarters of Volkswagen Financial Services and the Volkswagen Group) and provides palliative care to adults. The Keech Hospice is in Luton, around 30 kilometers from Milton Keynes, and provides palliative care for both adults and children. Every year, Volkswagen Financial Services UK supports these two charitable institutions with around 30 fundraising and voluntary activities such as renovation work, abseiling descents, fire-walking, or marathons. Besides taking part, the company also helps provide the logistics for such events.

Help and assistance
Volkswagen Financial Services UK has been supporting the aid organization "BEN" since the 1990s. The charity is dedicated to helping people who work or have worked in the automotive industry and their family dependents. Our UK subsidiary assists in various ways, for example by providing vehicles, through fundraising campaigns, or by organizing Christmas dinners for the residents of Olney, a town near Milton Keynes.

Mentoring for young people
Mentoring can make a significant contribution to the personal and social development of young people. That is why around 25 Volkswagen Financial Services UK employees are regularly involved in the company's mentoring program. They offer their knowledge and experience to school pupils as coaches and advisers. The program is designed to run over a period of a year. The initiative was launched back in 2013 and some of the former pupils are now themselves working at Volkswagen Financial Services UK.

Financial Heroes

Volkswagen Credit has been supporting the "Financial Heroes" initiative since 2012. The aim of this initiative is to teach children and youngsters between the ages of 10 and 17 how to manage money sensibly and responsibly. The pupils have the opportunity to test and practice their newly acquired skills in a digital learning environment in the classroom. Volkswagen Credit supports the project with around EUR 13,000 each year.