The Foundation’s Results for 2013

March 23, 2014

ABLV Charitable Foundation Operational Summary for the Year 2013

In 2013, ABLV Charitable Foundation supported over 40 public benefit initiatives. According to the Foundation’s estimates, at least 175,000 members of the population were directly involved in the Foundation’s activities, while about 200,000 citizens from all over the country were indirectly involved. Last year, the Foundation received donations and gifts totalling EUR 1.6 million for the overall provision of the Foundation’s operations, as well as donations and gifts amounting to EUR 275,933 for the implementation of specific programmes.

In 2013, the Foundation carried out its operations in three core directions: “Contemporary Art”, “Education” and “Children and Families” or in a social realm; encouraged the development of charitable activity and provided support for public benefit initiatives, devoting special attention to the social and ethnic integration of society, children and adolescents, promotion of culture and art, educational development and to the development of civic society. 

In 2013, the Foundation implemented the following activities of public benefit:

Contemporary Art:

• A grant programme “Contemporary Art Exhibitions in 2013” was implemented;
• Several of the contemporary art events supported by the Foundation have received high recognition. For example, the Rīgas Laiks Festival won the Kilogram of Culture in the nomination category Surprise of the Year, while Gvido Kajons and the organisation “Balta” won the Diena Annual Award in Culture for 2013 in the category The Most Impressive Event in Visual Arts in 2013 for the photo exhibition at the Latvian Museum of Photography and the album “Theme 011”.

In 2013, the Foundation began to introduce the Latvian population to major cultural events, particularly focusing on contemporary art. With the Foundation’s support, more than 130,000 readers have taken advantage of the opportunity to read articles free of charge on Internet websites that offer quality coverage of developments within the contemporary art scene in Latvia and overseas. During the course of the year, within the parameters of the contemporary art programme, 14 different activities were supported, which received investments totalling LVL 62,197 (EUR 88,498).

Children and Families

Together with the Foundation’s partners, the Charitable 2013 Christmas Campaign was implemented, attracting funds for the purchase of hearing aids (under the auspices of the programme “Let’s Help Them to Hear!”) and for the organisation of children’s summer camps (under the auspices of the programme “Let’s Help Them to Grow Up!”). LVL 80,725 (EUR 114,861) was invested in the programme “Let’s Help Them to Hear!”, of which LVL 11,900 (EUR 16,932) was invested in hearing aids for seven children to whom hearing aids were allocated in 2012, which were subsequently inserted during the first two quarters of 2013. Within the parameters of the 2013 programme, hearing aids were presented to another 43 children. Read more about this here.

In 2013, the Foundation organised a three-day family support camp “You’re One of Us”, which was attended by families that are raising one or more children with impaired hearing. The objective of the camp was to gather together such families in one place so that they can get to know one another and exchange supportive information. The camp was attended by a total of more than 70 people.

In 2013, within the parameters of the “Let’s Help Them to Grow Up!” programme, nine partners (camp organisers) received a grant for organising summer camps for children from families afflicted by poverty and those at social risk, as well as for children with special needs. With co-financing from the Foundation, 28 camps were organised and were attended by 704 children from the target groups from all over Latvia. In 2013, the programme was expanded, giving several camp organisers the chance to introduce children to eight Drawing Theatre performances. In total, LVL 38,770 (EUR 55,165) was invested in the area in 2013. Read more about this here.

At the end of 2013 another programme was launched – “Let’s Help the Victims of 21.11.”, in order to provide support to the families of the victims of the Zolitūde tragedy. This programme also attracted donations during the Christmas Campaign, while it is planned that the provision of assistance will begin during the second half of 2014.

Education

Several important projects were implemented under the auspices of the education arm in 2013: 

• A grant was awarded to a Master’s programme student from the Transport and Communications Institute, totalling LVL 1,092 (EUR 1,554);
• A grant of LVL 3,623 (EUR 5,133) was awarded in support of “You Can if You Do”, an educational camp organised by the organisation “Palīdzēsim.lv”;
• An educational game was developed for 9th-12th grade schoolchildren, which gives them the chance to learn about part of the collection of the nascent Contemporary Art Museum, linking it to teaching subjects: physics, chemistry and biology, etc. The project was visited by more than 3,200 schoolchildren from all over Latvia. More than LVL 10,000 was invested in the project. 

In total, LVL 15,325 (EUR 21,806) was donated in support of education.

Future Plans

In 2014, the Foundation will continue its ongoing long-term programmes in three directions: “Contemporary Art”, “Children and Families” and “Education”, planning measures in accordance with current affairs. You can learn the Foundation’s latest news by visiting its homepage: www.ablv.org

ABLV Charitable Foundation was founded in 2006 by ABLV Bank shareholders Ernests Bernis and Oļegs Fiļs, in order to put their core values into practice in real life and support the responsibility of entrepreneurs towards society and the environment. The Foundation functions as ABLV Bank’s main partner in realm of charitable activity, supporting creative people and outstanding organisations that invest their efforts and knowledge, in order to achieve universally important goals – to create a united, abundant and safe society. In particular, the Foundation focuses its attention on contemporary art, children and adolescents, and the development of education and civic society. In past years, the Foundation has supported more than 240 projects, awarding financing to them in the amount of EUR 1,200,000.