In the autumn of 2021, owner-customers were invited to choose the themes of their OP cooperative bank’s corporate responsibility actions in different locations. They could make suggestions by responding to the ‘Good deeds across time’ survey on OP Media’s web pages.

Nationally, the most popular themes were support for the employment and education of young people, followed by action to foster nature and the environment, and promotion of exercise among children and youths.

OP cooperative banks have realised these wishes. Read further for a few examples of the kinds of actions banks had taken by spring 2022.

Support for a young people’s fine arts competition and the prevention of bullying

In 2022, OP Nilakan Seutu supported a local fine arts competition which encouraged youngsters to create public works of art for their local town centres. The idea was to teach young people about the value of art and of their surrounding environment. In addition, the bank aims to promote the prevention of bullying locally, by funding the arrangement of anti-bullying education. It also supports various sporting activities for young people. Other targets of financial support include football, athletics and fishing as hobbies for young people.

Funding to build a Pump Track

For OP Vesanto, the survey’s most popular ESG themes were support for the employment and education of young people, improvement of business conditions, and the promotion of exercise among children and youths. In 2021, the bank donated funds for the building of a Pump Track, helping to pay for a lean-to on the sawdust surface.

It also contributed to construction of a stage in Vesanto market square, organised Hippo sports events and helped pay shared village expenses.

Inspired by the survey’s outcomes, the OP cooperative bank is now considering new ways of supporting young people and companies.

Several banks involved in the ‘Summer jobs paid for by OP’ campaign

Dozens of OP cooperative banks around Finland are helping to find employment for young people through the ‘Summer jobs paid for by OP’ campaign, in which an OP cooperative bank offers an association financial support to employ a youngster. For example, this is the seventh summer in which OP Joki-Pohjanmaa will enable the employment of up to 30 youngsters through the ‘Summer jobs paid for by OP’ campaign. 

The ‘Good deeds across time’ survey showed that most respondents viewed the employment of young people as the primary theme. Several OP cooperative banks are participating in the survey for the first time this year.  

Donations to local organisations of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation

The ‘action to foster nature and the environment’ theme received most support among owner-customers of OP Turun Seutu in the ‘Good deeds across time’ survey. After the OP cooperative bank had listened to customers’ opinions, the Turku banks made a Christmas donation of 6,000 euros to six local organisations of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation.

Associations are using this support to conserve natural diversity in a number of ways: buying tools to manage highly valued traditional landscapes, arranging voluntary litter picking events, organising courses about traditional landscapes, donating packets of wildflower seeds and creating various kinds of educational and guidance material.

We would like to thank all respondents to the survey once again! We’ll hold the survey again from 19 September to 9 October 2022, inviting owner-customers to tell us what corporate responsibility activities they’d like to see in their local areas.

We make a real difference by carrying out corporate responsibility actions chosen by our owner-customers. Let us know what corporate responsibility actions you’d like us to carry out. Take the Good Deeds Across Time survey between 19 September and 9 October 2022

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