AXA in the community

AXA IN THE COMMUNITY

AXA Hearts in Action

At AXA, we believe we have a responsibility to support the local communities in which we conduct business and where our employees live and work. AXA Hearts in Action was established in France in 1991 and introduced to Australia and New Zealand in 2000. AXA ‘Hearts in Action’ is a global AXA Group community based volunteering programme that forges partnerships with local community organisations and enables employees to actively engage with the community by contributing their time and skills to make a difference. Globally over 15,000 AXA employees each year volunteer their time.

AXA’s core business around the world is financial protection and helping people to cope with life’s unforeseen and sometimes unfortunate events. AXA believes that whilst you can’t plan for every eventuality in life, you can plan for living. Therefore, the Hearts in Action programme in Australia and New Zealand aims to assist families and children, who are experiencing difficulties due to illness or are disadvantaged due to circumstances beyond their control, through education, financial assistance and ongoing support.

Strategic relationships have been developed with a number of community partners across the region.

Key community partners in Australia includes:

Brotherhood of St Laurence	Ronald McDonald House	Starlight Children's Foundation
The Salvation Army	The Smith Family	Very Special Kids

Key community partners in New Zealand includes:

Canteen	He Huarahi Tamariki School	Mary Potter Hospice
Ronald McDonald House	The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind I(RNZFB)	Wellington City Mission

AXA Charitable Trust

In July 2005 we established a Charitable Trust in Australia and New Zealand, enabling us to significantly expand our Hearts in Action programme. In 2007, over 1.3m has been donated to the worthy initiatives focusing on sick or disadvantaged children, poverty and homelessness.

The following initiatives were committed to in 2007 with our strategic community partners:

Very Special Kids (VSK) - Life is for Living programme
Funding provided for 300 bed nights at the VSK Hospice, which provides special palliative care for children with life threatening illnesses. AXA employees volunteer at the hospice during the VSK school holiday programmes and assist to fundraise during the annual VSK Piggy Bank Appeal.

Starlight Children’s Foundation - Starlight Escapes programme
Funding for the development and roll out of 20 Escapes to bring sick children and their families together for a much needed distraction from the stress of repeat hospitalisation. AXA employees volunteer at these Escapes to ensure that the children make the most of these special events.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence - ‘Home Interaction Program for parents and Youngsters (HIPPY)
Funding to enable HIPPY to develop their capacity to effectively prepare for the expansion of the programme. AXA employees further contribute through participation in the HIPPY advisory committee, attendance of HIPPY graduation ceremonies and fundraising events.

The Smith Family - Learning for Life programme
Funding for 25 tertiary scholarships to assist financially disadvantaged students with the costs of laptops and course materials. AXA employees volunteer by mentoring students and assisting with hamper packing and delivery at Christmas.

The Salvation Army - AXA 614 Bus programme
Funding for the running and maintenance costs of the bus, that aims to connect with young homeless people. AXA employees volunteer on the bus by serving meals and interacting with these young people.

Ronald McDonald House (RMDH) - Collection Boxes programme
Funding for the purchase of and the distribution of collection boxes. The money collected from these boxes will be shared among the RMDH houses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB) - Peer Support Camps
Funding for camps for blind children to promote independent living, social skills, sensory awareness and peer support.

In 2008 we anticipate committing over $1.2 million to support specific initiatives in the community.

AXA Workplace Giving
Our ‘Workplace Giving’ programme enables employees to make pre-tax donations to our strategic community partners, which is matched by the Charitable Trust.

In Australia, this raised over $110,000 in 2007.

AXA Grant Programme

In addition to funding selected projects and initiatives with our strategic community partners, we have also established a Grant Programme to respond to applications for funds from other community organisations to support worthy initiatives which focuses on sick or disadvantaged children, poverty and homelessness.

Next: Application Guidelines