Caring for communities

As part of its net positive ambition to go Way Beyond Good, SIG has launched a new initiative to engage and give something back to local communities  

Wherever SIG is in the world, we strive to play an active role in communities. This means contributing as much as possible to ensure the places we live and work are happy, healthy and prosperous. In fact, one of our key ambitions is to double our positive contribution to society by 2030 as part of going Way Beyond Good – a commitment to give more to society and the environment than we take out.

It’s in this community spirit that SIG employees from around the world came together to create the first-ever Way Beyond Good Global Engagement Day. Launched in April, in partnership with local organisations and charities, every major SIG site organised a local engagement event such as a community meal or food donation to people in need.

“I was so impressed when I heard and read about the creativity, enthusiasm and hard work of SIG’s global volunteers, led by our Way Beyond Good Champions,” says SIG CEO Rolf Stangl. “Our Global Engagement Day is a great opportunity to invite local people to our sites or local charities, and help feed people in need. This is exactly the spirit I like and it makes me very proud.” 

Here, we tell the stories of just some of the many and varied activities that took place…

Appetites in the Americas

From Chester, USA and Mexico City to São Paolo, Brazil, a whole host of Global Engagement Day events took place in the Americas. In São Paolo, for example, SIG volunteers shared a traditional Brazilian lunch with refugees from Venezuela while hearing personal and poignant stories about the struggles of fleeing the country to seek refuge in Brazil.   

Serving all ages in Asia

In Asia, teams of volunteers in China and Thailand gave their time to prepare meals for everyone from the young to the elderly. In Thailand, over 50 employees from SIG’s site in Rayong visited an orphanage in the neighbouring Chonburi province. The action-packed day was filled with dancing, singing and colouring in, together with a delicious lunch featuring Bing Su – a shaved ice dessert.

Traditional times in Australasia

Down on North Island in New Zealand, SIG’s team in Whakatane brought together the whole community for a hearty serving of Hangi for over 100 people in need at a local Salvation Army centre. This traditional Maori meal is cooked in a pit with baskets of food placed over hot stones and covered with wet cloth sacks to trap in heat.

Easter feasts in Europe

In Europe, several mouth-watering feasts took place, including in Linnich and Wittenberg in Germany, Saalfelden in Austria, Neuhausen in Switzerland, and Cluj in Romania. In Neuhausen, the SIG team donated more than 150kg-worth of Easter food packages to the Swiss charity Schweizer Tafel who distributes surplus food to those affected by poverty.

Want to know more about our pledge to double our benefit to society? Get in touch or see the progress we’ve made in our Way Beyond Good journey with our latest Corporate Responsibility Report.

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