Bankya’s “Teach for Better Quality Education” Campaign in support of the Teach for Bulgaria’s mission and the Program’s teachers won first prize in the “Investor in Knowledge” Category of the annual Responsible Business Awards of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF) for 2016. The category was one of the most highly contested ones with 17 nominated projects, and the award was given by the Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Nikolay Denkov.

The prestigious BBLF Awards are the most acclaimed competition for corporate social responsibility in Bulgaria and were handed for the 14th time on 14 March 2017 at an official ceremony in Sofia Hotel Balkan. A total of 84 projects were nominated by 57 companies and organizations from different sectors in this year’s edition of the competition. Traditionally, the initiative highlights the strongest and most important business initiatives in support of public causes. The good practices of companies in six categories are distinguished: “Investor in Society”, “Investor in Knowledge”, “Investor in Human Capital and Working Conditions”, “Investor in Environment”, “Cause-Related Marketing” and “Best SME Social Policy”.

TEACH FOR BETTER BULGARIAN EDUCATION

The partnership between Bankya (a Coca-Cola Bulgaria brand) and Teach for Bulgaria “Teach for Better Bulgarian Education” started in 2012 and has continuously evolved over the years to enable more children in Bulgaria to have access to quality education. Beyond the generous financial support, Bankya mineral water help our mission through innovative projects such as the online educational game “The Spring” for children from 5th to 12th grades, which allows students to build on the knowledge gained in the classroom in a fun and interactive way.

In 2016-2017, the company was also a partner of Teach for Bulgaria for the third consecutive year in a large-scale marketing campaign, providing Teach for Bulgaria with outdoor advertising and presence in the social media in the search of new Program participants. The logo and the cause of Teach for Bulgaria are written on each bottle of Bankya mineral water, thereby aditionally promoting our cause among an even wider audience.

“For the fifth year in a row, we have been sharing the belief in the potential of every child in Bulgaria with our Bankya mineral water partners. Thanks to their sustained support and the strong commitment of their employees, the cause of equal access to quality education has successfully reached more and more adherents,” said Evgenia Peeva-Kirova, CEO of Teach for Bulgaria.

Apart from Bankya/Coca-Cola, other companies, with which Teach for Bulgaria has successfully collaborated in recent years were also awarded in the different categories of the competition for their socially responsible projects. Among them are Mtel, Lidl Bulgaria and Unicredit Bulbank. There were also projects of our long-time partners Dundee Precious Metals and Kinstellar Bulgaria among the nominated ones.