Applications to join the START Programme, which is an element of the Group’s ESG strategy, will be accepted until November 28th at grupaazoty.com/start.

Ambassadors of the START Programme include Malwina Kopron – the bronze medallist in hammer throw at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, and Maciej Gladysz – a young talented kart racing driver.

Applications to receive support under the START Programme are invited from sports clubs and schools. The applicant entities should meet all of the following conditions: they must be engaged in sports promotion activities, must run a systematic training cycle in a discipline or disciplines covered by the support, must possess adequate training facilities for both winter and summer seasons, they must have qualified training/coaching staff with proper professional credentials, and must be listed in the relevant register.

Precedence will be given to entities operating in the provinces where the main Group companies are headquartered, i.e. the Provinces of Kraków, Lublin, Szczecin, Opole, Katowice, Gdańsk and Kielce.

‘Grupa Azoty has a decades-long track record of supporting Polish athletes in achieving sporting successes around the world. By launching the first edition of the START Programme, we will participate in training future generations of athletes, who are yet to decide whether sports will be their way of life. Financial support will go to entities that guarantee the provision of high quality sports training for children and teenagers. Our intention is for the START Programme to help popularise sports among the youngest, especially in regions where Grupa Azoty plants are located,’ says Tomasz Hinc, President of the Management Board of Grupa Azoty S.A.

Under the START Programme, the Grupa Azoty Group will enter into forty agreements worth up to PLN 7,500 each and ten agreements with a maximum value of PLN 20,000 each. The funding of PLN 7,500 may be spent on sports equipment or sportswear and training clothes. In the case of support worth PLN 20,000, the funds may be applied towards training and coaching activities.

The programme is an element of the Grupa Azoty Group’s sustainability agenda. The strategic CSR goals of the entire Group are consistent with those underlying the START Programme, which are to invest in the potential of young people, to foster talents and passions offering hope for the future, and to create a space of ‘equal opportunities’ for training children and teenagers.

Detailed rules of the Grupa Azoty START Programme are available at grupaazoty.com/start.