2017 in Summary

January 28, 2018

ABLV Charitable Foundation would like to thank each and every donor, who has found the opportunity to support the long-term charitable programmes implemented by the Foundation, as well as the Foundation’s work as a whole. This will enable us to continue creating an aesthetic and safe cultural environment, through more extensive implementation of civic improvement projects in central Riga. It will also allow us to help hundreds of children by providing digital hearing aids to kids with hearing problems, and through support for the organisation of educational camps for socially vulnerable children.

“We would like to thank everyone whose donation has reinforced our progress towards our joint goal of creating a united and abundant society in an aesthetic and safe cultural environment. Significant changes can only be achieved in the long-term, therefore we are delighted by and highly appreciate the trust of those donors who have continued to provide support since the Foundation’s first charitable campaign 10 years ago,” says ABLV Charitable Foundation Board Chair Zanda Zilgalve, adding that a large number of these long-standing supporters are employees and clients of ABLV Bank Group companies. 

The ABLV Charitable Foundation invites everyone, who supports the Foundation’s set goals, to make donations. For example, by supporting the “New Riga” programme, the Foundation is offering donors the opportunity to participate in the implementation of Latvia’s first ever philanthropic project to be organised on such an extensive scale. In the autumn of 2018, it is planned that the foundation stone of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art building will be laid in the New Hanza territory. The ABLV Charitable Foundation is the co-founder of the privately-funded initiative to build the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, which is envisaged as a popular public meeting place where people come in search of inspiration and new knowledge, for self-reflection and to swap experiences. Last year, Riga’s urban environment was augmented with a new leisure spot for families with children - the playground and art object known as the “Labyrinth” next to Riga Cathedral, while in 2016, the fountain in Kronvalda Park next to Riga Congress Centre received a contemporary makeover. More detailed information about the programme is available here.

For the 11th year in a row, donations received in support of the charitable programme “Let’s Help Them to Hear!“ will enable us to continue supporting the development and social integration of children with hearing problems. Under the auspices of the programme, the Foundation gifts the very latest digital hearing aids to those children whose families lack the financial resources needed to buy these devices. Thanks to the generosity of donors, and in collaboration with the Latvian Children’s Hearing Centre, during the past decade the Foundation has been able to help 400 children to hear. More detailed information about the programme is available here.

In turn, the objective of the charitable programme “Let’s Help Them to Grow Up!” is to foster the development and social integration of socially vulnerable children living in Latvia by giving them the opportunity to participate in educational camps. To date, thanks to the generous support of donors, 5,565 children have had the chance to attend 184 camps across Latvia. More detailed information about the programme is available here. 

The 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 the 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. From the time it was established, the Foundation has focused its attention on contemporary art, the welfare of children and adolescents, the development of education and civic society. Moreover, ABLV Charitable Foundation is the co-founder of the future Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, which will open its doors in 2021. In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the ABLV Charitable Foundation has undertaken to be the main supporter of the Latvian Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale until the year of the opening of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art. Over the years, the Foundation has supported over 340 projects, allocating co-financing to them amounting to over EUR 4 million.