We support passions! Who is in the first edition?
As we have already stated, the Passion Drives Power People campaign encouraged a willingness to compete for funding to realise the dreams of employees. In 59 submitted applications, our versatile applicants applied for a total amount of 654.795 PLN. The verification of applications was not easy – the enthusiasms of employees can be very different and very interesting, and the annual budget of the Program is 300.000 PLN. In the first tranche, 16 major projects and 18 additional projects were selected, for which Sii will spend almost PLN 150.000.
The enthusiasms of Sii Power People are very versatile. The biggest group – confirmed by world trends – are runners: longer distances, greater and greater extremes, and those who need to run with some mission. Motor sports are also very popular. The entries included those for a number of different bicycle and tennis disciplines, combat sports, shooting, and activities involving horses and dogs. The applications for Sii Power People also provided interesting insights into the achievements and plans of those whose hobbies involve programming, robotics and construction. There is also a place for what people broadly understand as art: music, dance, theatre and photography.
Who are we supporting?
Technology
We shall support projects where the hobby is closely related to technology.
Bartek Pytko from Sii in Wrocław has developed his passion for modern DIY at HackerSpace: building 3D printers, remote control models, electronic circuits and computer programmes – and that’s what we like too. We hope that Bartek’s passion will inspire others, and not only in Wrocław.
Szymon Markiewicz, who works in Sii Katowice, does his “DIY” in a different way – we invite you to blog, led by Szymon, which shows you how, as a man or woman with many technical talents, you can become a hero in your home! (: We invite you to read the blog regularly – we shall be following Szymon’s progress with interest!
Culture
In June, the commission decided to subsidize BassRiver in Płock – an event accompanying the AudioRiver festival. The organiser of the event is an engineer from the Warsaw branch, Grzegorz Gronkiewicz.
Regarding sponsorship in the field of music, we shall be supporting Karol Odwald from Sii Gdańsk, who is a DJ and a music producer, in the near future – we hope that 2018 will see the premiere of Sii’s first album.
We shall also be supporting Anna Lipska from Sii Lublin and her improvised theatre she is sure to be someone we’ll hear more of in the future, and Anna will have the opportunity to develop her talent and gain new skills.
Sport
Władek Bultrowicz from Sii Gdańsk will be representing motor sports – and will be racing cars. Władek belongs to the group of Sii Top Guns (read more>>>).
A keen bodybuildier, Adam Górczyński from Sii Gdańsk, is another of our Top Guns. He will organize the first Strong Man event to be supported by the company – you are now invited to the Tri-City beaches! More details will be provided closer to the holiday season.
We cannot leave out the runners. Running is just one of the passions of Mateusz Małek from Sii Poznań – who operates within the framework of Sii Power Volunteers, Mateusz runs long-term workshops and educational programs for children and young people from less privileged backgrounds, teaching them a number of skills including programming.
Passion Boxes
Many requests were made to support individual athletes in various fields. The staff described their accomplishments and plans for the future in their applications – which were all very inspiring and hats off to all our sportsmen and women! Up to 26 Sii Power People, who take their after-hours sports activities very seriously indeed, training every day or several times a week, will be getting Sii sportswear. The package includes: thermal T-shirt, a shell-suit, beanie and balaclava – all very useful for outdoor sports on colder days. These ‘Passion Boxes’ are perfect for use on cross country tracks, cycling off-road and during all sports training and competitions!
Interest groups
Our values include, not only passion, but also vitally important Team Spirit! We hope Sii’s support will contribute to better teamwork and the success of several teams.
Basketball players wearing the Sii logo will be competing in Gdańsk and Wrocław. The Sii logo has already been seen in the Gdańsk league for some time, whereas the Sii Wrocław team, captained Michał Górski from Sii Wrocław, who compete in the Wrocław WroNBA league, will be new!
Eleven players from Lublin, Łódź and Warsaw will be competing in football. We shall also be supporting teams from Lublin and Łódź. A completely new sport will be appearing in the Sii arena: Tytani Lublin, an American football team, in which our engineer Maciek Marzec plays.
Why not?
22 applications have not been accepted. Some of them have been rejected due to formal requirements: most of these were from short-term Sii workers (remember: you have to have been working for Sii for at least a year).
The goal of the Passion Drives Power People Program is to support those with interesting hobbies and interests, who have found enthusiasm from within themselves and are actively pursuing their goals. Another aim is to build engagement among other employees. An further factor in deciding which of the applications would receive funding was the promotional potential of the hobby. In the majority of cases, most of these factors were considered together as a whole.
Sii does not cover the cost of private travel: air tickets, accommodation, meals – travel can not be given as the goal of the development of hobby or interest. Sii does not sponsor the purchase of any item solely for the use of a private employee: sporting equipment, motorcycles, cars, bicycles, boats and their parts, para-gliders and other extreme sports equipment, nor will we sponsor any sport licences.
The Commission has decided to support hobbies and interests that are already on-going, which involve a larger group of people from Sii and from our target group. If someone loves sailing and wants to do it as often as possible, then we invite them to apply for sailing sponsorship: we shall be happy to consider applications for the co-financing of the boat, in such a manner that the potential sailor organized a crew together with us and regularly sailed in Mazury, took part in regattas and won! But the purpose of the program is not to buy sailing boats or their parts for the private use of employees.
It’s worth remembering and rethinking your approach to the program before the next time applications are due – perhaps you can get support for developing an interest or hobby in another field. Analysis of all applications has also resulted in the modification of the Program calendar: applications will be processed twice a year.
We cordially congratulate all hobbyists, enthusiasts and sportsmen and women taking part! All those interested in Sii Power People are invited to submit an application for the next competition in the Program! Good luck! 🙂
Article written by: Katarzyna Domańska
