Sponsorship
Committed to society
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In Groupe BPCE, we attach considerable importance to durable, action-based sponsorship initiatives. Thanks to our companies and their foundations, we lend our support to a great many cultural and solidarity activities. But above and beyond the examples of nationwide sponsorship programs described below, our regional banks also pursue a host of other initiatives every year, working closely with individuals and entities at a local level.

We are helping to save Notre-Dame Cathedral with the Fondation du patrimoine

In 2019, Groupe BPCE, together with all the Banques Populaires and Caisses d'Epargne, Natixis and Banque Palatine, donated €10 million to the Fondation du patrimoine, the ‘Heritage Foundation’ specifically set up to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral, as soon as the donation platforms opened.

Groupe BPCE, acting less in its capacity as a leading corporate sponsor and more as a major banking partner of companies, craftsmen, and self-employed professionals, has decided to pay tribute to those of its customers who, throughout France, are helping to restore Notre-Dame to its previous glory. This is why the Group has launched a web series entitled Nos régions au chevet de Notre-Dame (‘Our regions helping to save Notre-Dame’).

[Episode 2] Focus on the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region with the Jarnias Company

For more than two years, the Jarnias Company, a customer of Banque Populaire Auvergne Rhône Alpes, has been helping to secure Notre-Dame Cathedral. Suspended 45 meters in the air, a team of forty rope access technicians has been working in difficult conditions alongside all the different types of construction specialists present on the site. An unforgettable human adventure!

[Episode 1] Focus on the Great East region of France with “Le Bras Frères”

On the day immediately after the fire broke out, the company took steps to shore up the cathedral walls liable to collapse at any time. This marked the beginning of an extraordinary project, lasting nearly two and a half years. To meet this challenge, “Le Bras Frères” enjoyed the support of Banque Populaire Alsace Lorraine Champagne, the company’s financial partner for the past fifty years. Enjoy an in-depth tour of this extraordinary project!

We are helping to advance the ecological transition by supporting Energy Observer

Groupe BPCE is principal partner of Energy Observer, the first autonomous hydrogen-powered ship acting simultaneously as a proof of concept and a laboratory for the ecological transition. With this partnership, Groupe BPCE is supporting a project aiming at developing hydrogen-based technological solutions and contributing to the rollout of financing tools tailored to new technologies and green energies. Groupe BPCE has put the fight against climate change at the heart of its 2024 strategic plan. The partnership with Energy Observer is therefore perfectly aligned with this ambition to be a major player in the energy transition, notably by helping our customers to meet their own transition challenges.

Click here to learn more about Energy Observer

We foster the entrepreneurial and creative spirit with the Banque Populaire Foundation

To unleash one’s talent, all it sometimes takes is a little help at the right time. This is the principle guiding the actions of the Banque Populaire Corporate Foundation, created in 1992, which supports the personal projects of individuals in three areas: music, disability, and the arts & crafts.

After professional juries have selected the candidates, the Foundation provides financial and individual backing over 3 years and enables the winners to enjoy the solidarity of its extensive network to bring their projects to fruition. The criteria used to choose candidates are simply to be talented and ambitious (of course) but also – and especially – to have a big heart and strength of purpose.

839 prize-winners since its creation: 476 individuals with disabilities, 306 musicians, and 57 artisans specializing in the applied arts
1,000 to 15,000 euros in grants awarded per year and per project

Fondation Banque Populaire avec la musique, le handicap et l’artisanat d’art

We preserve the French maritime heritage with the Belem Foundation

In 1979, the Belem, a large 19^th-century tall ship, lay abandoned and doomed to oblivion… when this tragic fate was avoided thanks to the Caisse d'Epargne’s decision to buy it. In 1980, the French savings bank set up the Belem Foundation, to which it donated the ship. Thanks to the active involvement and financial support of the Caisses d'Epargne, the three-masted vessel was made seaworthy and set sail once again in 1985. In 1980, the Belem Foundation, the owner of the Belem, was awarded the status of a general public-interest entity.

In its capacity as the historic patron of the Belem Foundation, the Caisse d'Epargne plays an exemplary role in conserving the French maritime heritage. It helps to make Belem a ‘school of life’ and a unique model for the transmission of knowledge to an extremely wide audience.

Website

An historical monument that plies the waves

Thanks to the conservation work carried out by the Belem Foundation, the three-masted vessel became one of the very first ships to be awarded the status of historical monument in 1984. A training ship for civilians, it is also the oldest tall ship in the world to be sailed by members of the general public. It is also the sole survivor of the great French sailing ships of the 19^th century, a fact that gives it the honor of representing France at major international maritime events.

52,000 sailors have worked on board since 1986

45,000 visitors every year

We are energizing the Social & Solidarity Economy with the Crédit Coopératif Foundation

The sense of general public interest lies at the very heart of the activities pursued by the Crédit Coopératif. To build a more socially supportive, more responsible, and more innovative society, the Crédit Coopératif Foundation has been supporting major transformations in the Social & Solidarity Economy (SSE) for more than 35 years. And it has done so in pursuit of a single objective: to promote a scaling-up of activities by supporting exemplary projects, by giving visibility to useful and innovative initiatives, and by promoting the impact of the SSE on major social issues.

The Foundation pursues its activities in three ways:

By supporting and publicizing research and future-oriented work related to the SSE,
By supporting the vibrant energy of local players, “people who make things happen in their communities,” who inspire others, and mobilize and motivate even greater numbers of people,
By funding innovations that draw on new practices, innovative business models respecting human dignity, working methods founded on cooperation... or initiatives favoring the arrival of the SSE into high-stake sectors such as the energy transition, new mobility, housing, responsible consumption, etc.

Since the Foundation’s creation:

More than 1,200 projects supported within the framework of Inspiration Awards in the Social & Solidarity Economy
Sponsorship worth a total of €6 million distributed between 2013 and 2017

Website

We support culture with Natixis

Since 2004, Natixis has been active in conserving and ensuring accessibility to major works of art and received, in 2008, the Grand Mécène de la culture (Great Cultural Benefactor) medal awarded by the French Ministry of Culture.

A patron of the Orchestre de Paris since 2007, Natixis supports the orchestra’s digital project, due to be launched in the spring of 2019. With the creation of a digital platform, the orchestra will offer everyone access to great works from its classical repertoire.

In pursuit of its desire to transmit culture and contribute to the emergence of new talent, Natixis supports since 2015 the Opéra national de Paris in its capacity as a "Founding Patron of the Academy" and as "Principal Patron of the Musicians in Residence program."

Website

We support social and environmental transitions with the Natixis Foundation

The Natixis Foundation is a corporate foundation set up in 2020 with the aim of supporting our people’s involvement – at Natixis Investment Managers and Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking in France and worldwide – in taking action to promote a just transition.

We support general interest projects put forward by our partner associations in the areas of both environmental protection and solidarity, with the aim of making a sustainable impact.

We have set out three priority areas for action i.e. workplace integration for young people and education, the circular economy and biodiversity.

Find out more about the Natixis Foundation ==> link to website
Since the Foundation’s creation, we have supported:

•   5 projects to foster workplace integration for young people and education
•   4 projects to promote the circular economy
•  10 projects to encourage the protection of biodiversity

Website