Smile Camps

The charges of the foundation stay in the recreation centre in Wisła for twelve days for free. Depending on their needs, the foundation operates therapeutic and educational programmes or organises camps for the charges of primary schools, community youth centres or therapeutic groups. Each year, nearly 1,100 children from all over Poland participate in 22 camps.

Current information about Smile Camps is available on Facebook.

Children's impressions from Smile Camps

Reportage by Zuzanna Bednarska

Reportage by Aurelia Ginda

Reportage by Miłosz Sewastjanowicz

Letter by Aleksandra Fortuna

Letter by Kacper Kaczmarczyk

ING Voluntary Services Programme

This programme of the ING for Children Foundation is to foster the development of local communities and employee engagement. Volunteers deliver their projects with the financial assistance of the foundation and partnering with non-governmental organisations as well as municipal and commune social welfare centres.

Every employee is entitled to 8 hours of working time to be used for voluntary activities. In 2019, volunteers participated in local initiatives for 7052 hours. They delivered 91 projects all over Poland. Those included projects under the Good Idea grant contest.

Current information about the Voluntary Services Programme is available on Facebook.

Books

Between 2005 and 2010, the foundation supported the ING Bank Śląski S.A programme “Accompanied by the Lion”. It was mainly intended to promote bibliotheraphy, i.e. a therapy with the use of adequately prepared texts or books. We published together with the bank two books: “Alien” and “Lucjan, the Lion One of Its Kind”, written by Roksana Jędrzejewska-Wróbel. The graphic design is by Jona Jung.

“Lucjan, the Lion One of Its Kind” is a book for children suffering from oncological diseases. It teaches children how to overcome difficulties, tame the fear and tells them about the power of friendship.

“Alien” – addressed to the families with autistic children. The story helps to understand difficult behaviours and shows how to look for support in a specialist therapy. The book was published in cooperation with the Synapsis Foundation.

“The Snowman in the Fridge” by Łukasz Gorczyca and Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz, published by the ING Polish Art Foundation , tells stories about subjects of contemporary artists and why they pursue them. The book encourages discovering artistic potential in everyday activities and is a perfect starting point for talks about art with children aged 6-12. We distribute free copies of the book together with the scenarios of workshops in schools, libraries, and NGOs.

We also distribute the book "I Have Asperger's Syndrome. Handbook for Students and Teachers" published by The Association "Based in Warsaw". This is a unique in its form and approach to the subject textbook about Asperger syndrome.

Each year, the books are sent to a few thousand of younger and older readers.

“Lucjan, the Lion One of Its Kind”, “Alien” and "I Have Asperger's Syndrome. Handbook for Students and Teachers" are available in the electronic version at https://www.ingdzieciom.pl/co-robimy/ksiazki.

Orange Power

Orange Power stands for the support of ING employees for children who want to be active. It enables them to get to know different sports, participate in a bicycle race or start a new form of rehabilitation.

Every year, the ING team participates in the "Run Warsaw" event. The event consists of  a 10 kilometre run and a 5 kilometre walk and translates into sports activities for children throughout Poland. ING employees promote a healthy and active lifestyle.

Thanks to the support of ING Bank Śląski, each participant of the Orange Team increases the pool of funds that the ING Children Foundation allocates to the sport activation of children and young people throughout Poland.