Within the group, it has long been clear that a company’s employees involved in solidarity initiatives are key players in social cohesion. “SolidarCité” was born of this conviction. It is a non-profit organisation founded on PPR’s initiative in 2001, with the aim of promoting and supporting community-based initiatives centred on equal opportunity. From retail to luxury goods, the organisation relies on the voluntary commitment of hundreds of employees who act on an everyday basis at a local level in partnership with the community fabric. A few examples.

Each of the Group’s employees involved in community life can benefit from material, human or financial assistance from SolidarCité by submitting a solidarity project to the selection committee that sits every quarter. Made up of representatives from each company’s SolidarCité teams, this committee analyses the dossiers according to precise criteria: the level of involvement of the member of staff in the project or association, the social usefulness of the project, its longevity and its economic model.

Since its creation, this committee has supported some sixty projects.

“Street Music” was created in 2000 by a group of ten young rappers and dancers, including an employee of Fnac Bastille who presented his project to SolidarCité. The organisation attempts to foster community links in Paris’ 13th arrondissement through various events. A computer-assisted rap and music workshop was able to be financed thanks to SolidarCité’s. The aim? Reach out to young people in difficulty, involve them in a rewarding project and in the long-term work together with them to develop a personal life plan.

 

“One day, one student, one job” (Un jour, un collégien, un métier)

This action has the sole ambition of helping young people from the Alma district of Roubaix (France) to prepare for their future entrance into the world of work. From immigrant or underprivileged backgrounds, these teenagers schooled at the Collège Anne Franck have difficulty choosing an educational path. PPR companies active in Northern France, such as La Redoute, Fnac Éveil&Jeux, Printemps, Redcats, etc., offer to welcome these young people individually so that they can spend a day learning about a job. In 2005, 136 collège pupils were able to benefit from this partnership, compared with 104 in 2004.

 

In 2004, on the initiative of a store clerk from Saint Priest, 49 Conforama employees rode over 9,200 km by bike, relaying between the Saint Priest store and that in Porte de Chatillon, near Paris. This action enabled 59,155 euros in donations to be collected, all of which were given to AFM (French Association against Myopathy). In 2005, all of Conforama’s entities got involved and organised fund-raising activities: 84,000 euros were collected thanks to the commitment of 800 employees.

 

 

The number one in automobile and pharmaceutical distribution in Africa and the French Overseas Departments and Territories is heavily involved in the fields of education and health. For five years, scholarships have been granted to the children of CFAO’s non-executive African employees to finance their secondary education and thus promote access to education for the most underprivileged and most worthy pupils. For the 2005-2006 school year, 273 French- or English-speaking children benefited from these grants in 23 countries.