EU Staff Fund marks Europe Day 2022 with new vision prioritising people and the planet

Two years on from its launch in response to the Covid-19 crisis, the EU Staff Fund has marked Europe Day 2022 by unveiling its new long-term vision. A fairer, greener Europe where caring for people and the planet go hand in hand are the priorities for the future, it announced.

Encouraging EU civil servants to make personal contributions for those in need across the continent, the fund has already raised €1.3 million in urgent donations. While it will continue to respond to short-term crises such as the pandemic, flooding and Ukraine, it’s now targeting projects that help those in need while taking care of the planet.

The call for new support was made symbolically on 9 May on the 72nd anniversary of the founding declaration of the European project by Robert Schuman in 1950.

Trustees of the EU Staff Solidarity Response Fund said that while the effects of coronavirus continued to be felt, the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis posed a longer-term threat to Europe’s most vulnerable.

“This is why, after long reflection with our donors, we have developed a new strategy that will allow the fund to evolve from a crisis response tool to a permanent funding source for small organisations pursuing social and environmental objectives at the same time," said co-founder Bruno Mola.

The fund has been managed since its establishment by Belgium’s leading philanthropic institution the King Baudouin Foundation. Donations can be made here.

Pandemic projects it has already helped with rapid grants totalling €860,000, include counselling for frontline care staff in Spain, tutoring for Roma children in Czechia and hygiene products for vulnerable women in Romania.

It raised a further €100,000 for victims of last summer’s flooding in Belgium and, since March, has collected €340,000 for organisations helping those worst affected by the war in Ukraine.