Our Annual Report Is Out!
Curious about what 2024 looked like for us? Our activities and the projects we supported in the Mladá Boleslav, Rychnov, Vrchlabí and Jilemnice areas? Over the past year we partnered on more than 260 projects, ranging from school support and the development of community spaces to cultural events and help for individuals in difficult life situations.
Browse the online version of the annual report HERE.
Our 2024 annual report focuses primarily on education. Our aim is to support systemic change in the regions — we want children to look forward to school and feel motivated. In short, we want to help create the conditions for teachers to have all the modern methods of work and instruction at their disposal. We want regional education to be innovative, inspiring, and to awaken in children a real appetite for learning.
As a pilot, we focused on nursery schools, often an overlooked yet absolutely critical part of children's educational journey. In the Vrchlabí nursery schools we drew on the research of Nobel laureate J. Heckman, who argues that investment in the education of the youngest children offers the highest return. And the results speak for themselves: nursery schools are a key place where we awaken children's potential. This year we'll be launching a similar programme in the Mladá Boleslav area.
We're also bringing modern technology into schools — for instance the collaborative robot Edgar, who lets pupils experience teamwork in lessons and at robotics clubs and pick up not just the basics of programming but a host of other knowledge and skills. We support creativity, critical thinking, communication and the ability to work together.
We also continued to support civic initiatives, the development of public space and the strengthening of local ties. Particular emphasis went on sustainability in the protection of nature, road safety and care for culture. We strengthened intergenerational dialogue through community gatherings and projects built on sharing experience and cooperating across age groups. Thanks to our grant calls, dozens of projects came to life, from tree plantings and neighbourhood festivals to initiatives that nurture a sense of belonging in the towns and villages where ŠKODA AUTO operates.
In Mladá Boleslav we helped Pluhárna fulfil its role as a community centre. In the Rychnov area we supported the creation of new leisure clubs for children. In Vrchlabí we are succeeding in drawing young people into public life. And our cooperation with the Znesnáze platform, which helps people in challenging life situations, also continued. In 2024 we became patrons of eighteen fundraising drives that helped specific people and families in our regions.
The foundation of our work is dialogue and partnership with experts. The KOVO trade union has long given us valuable insight into the needs of employees in the regions where we are at home. On road safety we work with the VIZE 0 platform and Kooperativa, with the Bohemian Heritage Fund and representatives of basic art schools in the field of culture, with the KRNAP Administration as our expert guarantor on biodiversity, and Znesnáze helps strengthen public solidarity in support of difficult human stories.
Thank you to the schools, municipalities, non-profit organisations, individuals and other partners — to everyone pulling together with us. We're glad you're in this with us.
The team of the ŠKODA AUTO Endowment Fund