Banif team gives generously through Casual Fridays
Over €3,000 has been raised through Banif Bank’s monthly Casual Fridays initiative by enthusiastic staff who dress down every last Friday of the month, and in return donate money for charitable causes.
The usual formal ties and heels get a day off as instead of suiting up, employees take the opportunity to don comfy jeans and polos. Besides being great for motivation, the day also serves another purpose as a different cause is chosen each month to be the beneficiary of the sum collected.
The initiative kicked off in the summer months and the first three causes were immediately lined up as the search didn’t have to go any further than the Bank’s own walls. The first donation went to a team member who was all packed and ready for Naples where she spent two weeks helping the Sisters of Mother Theresa in their work with under-privileged children. The money was spent on stationery for craft work. Next up was another employee who together with ten other volunteers from ‘Right to Smile’, helped carry out maintenance works on a school in the village of Olasiti, Kenya. Yet another team member rallied for Puttinu Cares as her young nephew organised a little ‘pay back’ fund raiser.
In the following months Banif reached out to a variety of groups where a small but tangible difference could be made. This ranged from buying a laptop for the children of St. Angela’s House to play and study on, to getting new water heaters for the Ursuline Crèche in Sliema ahead of the cold winter months.
Christmas time saw the Bank team up with childrensdreams.org to make several wishes come true, including sending two girls to singing and dancing lessons and buying bicycle helmets for five young boys, to name a few. Rounding off the year was a cause that hit close to home, as the Millennium Chapel just up the road from Banif’s St. Julian’s branch was the target of a robbery and was extensively vandalised. Employees pitched in to help fund the repairing of the shop windows which were damaged during the unfortunate break-in.
All this was made possible through just a few euros here and there donated by employees once a month. “We have greatly stepped up our staff initiatives,” said Adrian Coppini, Chief Officer for Corporate Services. “Spurred by our team members we have worked on ideas and schemes that involve staff and create a more empathic workplace, and jolt us all to think of others in our close community.” Casual Fridays are just one of many initiatives implemented by the Bank’s Corporate Services Department that make life at Banif more dynamic and altruistic.
