Hellas Gold, consistent with the principles of Responsible Mining, continued its investments in social and environmental projects in the Municipality of Aristotle in 2021, implementing more than 20 projects and more than 50 social responsibility actions with a total value of 1.3 million euros.
Hellas Gold’s social investment program is the continuous improvement of the quality of citizens’ life, the maximization of environmental protection and the creation of conditions that will lay the foundations for the long-term, sustainable development of the region.
Next to the residents
In cooperation with the Municipal Authority, Hellas Gold undertook the implementation of important infrastructure projects, such as the restoration of the Olympiada-Varvara road axis (worth more than 300,000 euros) that suffered serious damages in the severe bad weather conditions of 2020. At the same time, it implemented a series of maintenance projects for local infrastructure and buildings (e.g. community facilities, schools, roads) and undertook the costs of repair and maintenance of vehicles and machinery of the municipality.
With a view to the access of the residents to a perfect health system in their homeland, great importance was given to the support of the local primary health system for which Hellas Gold covered the costs of the Community Clinics staffing in Stratoni and Olympiada, a project worth 50,000 euros.
The total investment for the above projects amounted to 600,000 euros which, apart from the immediate improvement of the everyday life of the citizens, gave a significant breath to the budget of the Municipality.
Care for the environment
In 2021, Hellas Gold completed another part of its extensive environmental rehabilitation program, that it has been preparing for many years, to clean land from mining uses of previous properties. In this context, it delivered to the local community a new natural area of 30 acres that for decades was a place of deposition of arsenopyrites with an impact on the local environment.
Contributing to the maintenance of a clean and healthy image of the residential network of the municipality, Hellas Gold donated a new garbage truck worth 250,000 euros to the Municipality of Aristotle, covering expenses and logistics for the cleaning services of the municipality, while it took care of the safe collection of stray animals by donating a vehicle worth 20,000 euros.
Moreover, for the protection of the country’s forest wealth, Hellas Gold cooperated with the New Aeroclub of Thessaloniki for the aerial surveillance of the forests of the region throughout the fire prevention season, while it stood next to the fire-stricken areas of Attica, with a total support of 30,000 euros.
Investing in tomorrow
With an eye on the new generation that will create the future of the region, Hellas Gold emphasized on supporting the education sector with two important actions:
It undertook and completed the renovation of 7 schools in the area and installed a water filtration system in all schools of the Municipality of Aristotle. It is a project with a total value of 180,000 euros that facilitates the everyday life of the students of the Municipality so that they can focus on what matters most: their learning path.
In addition, the robotics & STEAM program for local students continued for the 4th consecutive year, in collaboration with Eduact, an investment of 80,000 euros that cultivates in students important skills and knowledge for the future, developing their critical thinking.
Sustainability review
The above actions complement the extensive project that has been implemented in previous years in the region with investments of more than 24 million euros for support projects in the local community. It is worth noting that, as stated in the Recently Published Sustainable Development Report 2019-2020, Hellas Gold allocated in total – and despite the company’s difficult financial situation – 6% of its net profits in social investments, which is one of the highest rates of disposal in public higher rates of social investment allocation in the wider industrial sector.
Read the Sustainability Report: https://files.hellas-gold.com/reports/Sustainability-Report-2019-2020-en.pdf
It is worth noting that Hellas Gold will continue on the same path in the future as under the New Investment Agreement it plans emblematic investments of approximately 70 million euros in social care and local development projects, always in cooperation with the local community. This is a novel, ambitious programme of social investments, which will stimulate the development of the region and will be a legacy for future generations.