The "Coup de Coeur for Environment" was given to bpost for their "Eco-Driving Challenge" to engage their employees in applying a sustainable driving behavior.  This initiative helped employees increase their awareness on environmental issues and the importance through improving the way they drive. Mr. Dirk Tirez, General Counsel and Company Secretary for bpost as well as the Chairman of the PostEurop European Union Affairs Committee accepted the award on behalf of bpost.  Dirk underlined the importance for a company with a large fleet to reduce its CO2 consumption without necessarily investing in new vehicles.
(See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOfAX2jbIKM)

For the Employee category, PostEurop awarded Česká Pošta for their breast cancer prevention campaign which encouraged their female employees to perform regular check-ups and mammography. Mrs. Marta Horakova, Director of HR Process, who received the price on behalf of Česká Pošta stressed out how important it was for her, the employees and every Czech woman to have such a campaign, as it has already saved two lives, thanks to early diagnosis.

Finally, Royal Mail received the award for the Society category. The company's graduate and apprentices scheme encourages its young and new employees to participate in societal project aimed at collecting money for the Royal Mail's national charity fund of the year.  Mr. David Pilkington, Head of International and Customs Policy as well as a Member of the PostEurop Management Board received this award on behalf of his colleagues and said that he was very proud of the youngsters of the company even when they “sponged their managers”.  The graduate fundraising challenge has raised around £150,000 for Prostate Cancer UK, including matched giving. 

The “Coup de Coeur” awards were the result of a rich and diversified collection of CSR best practices in the second edition of PostEurop's CSR publication, which allows PostEurop Members to share up to 55 initiatives amongst themselves. This proves once again the role of the Postal sector as a pioneer, leading the way to Corporate Social Responsibility.

"The process of selecting the best CSR best practices in the areas of Environment, Employee and Society was a very exciting one.  Key considerations included innovation, transferability of the best practice and the impact it brought to the community. I would like to encourage all postal operators to continue their wonderful work and be an inspiration for each other." said Mr. Dominique Bailly, Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Circle at PostEurop.

"The publication is also a vehicle of communication with our key stakeholders.  It is an important tool to recognize the social and environmental role the postal sector plays in the community." states Mr. Jean-Paul Forceville, Chairman of the PostEurop Management Board during the ceremony.

Congratulations to all the winners.

For more information and to obtain a copy of the CSR brochure, please contact:

Nathalie Ganzel 
Vice-Chair of the PostEurop CSR Activities Circle
E: nathalie.ganzel@laposte.fr