T-Mobile Fund: A record number of grant applications

• 163 grant applications received
• Results of grant programmes to be known in the last week of October

Prague, 23 September 2005 - The grant programmes announced by the T-Mobile Fund this year met with great interest. The deadline for filing grant applications was Friday, 16 September. The VIA Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Euroregion Labe, which administrate the T-Mobile Fund together, have received a total of 163 applications for financial contributions representing a sum of over CZK 11.5 million. The gala announcement of the results will take place at the end of October at the T-Mobile offices in Hradec Králové, Louny and Prague.

"We are really pleased about the large number of people who found our offer interesting. We think that it is better to offer concrete, smaller grants to regions and local communities rather than implement costly and often somewhat faceless national projects," says Marek Herman, director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Office of T-Mobile International, adding: "This extraordinary response has confirmed that we have focused our efforts in the right direction. We are already starting to work on a continuation of this project which is planned for next year."

For the first time this year, the T-Mobile Fund was announced as a new initiative for three regions where the No. 1 Czech mobile operator has its offices: Prague 11, and the Hradec Králové and Louny districts. For this year, T-Mobile donated more than CZK 2.5 million to the Fund. This amount will be distributed among recipients by the Community Foundation of the Euroregion Labe in the Louny district and by the VIA Foundation in City District Prague 11 and the Hradec Králové district.

The projects, which were submitted by applicants both from cities and rural areas, are focused primarily on social services, support for sports and leisure-time activities for children and young people. The foundations have received interesting projects concerning the renovation of village squares, restoration of historical monuments and revival of community centres for local inhabitants. There are also many cultural projects, such as open-air theatre performances and choir festivals. The applications also focus on environmental projects aimed at cleaning up rivers and making various points of interest accessible to tourists. It is very satisfying to the organizers that the applications included projects to support volunteerism, particularly in the area of social services.

Non-governmental non-profit organizations as well as municipalities and religious organizations could apply for funds from the T-Mobile Fund. Both foundations have recorded a large number of applications from schools, municipalities and institutions receiving funds from the state budget. For example, sixteen schools have submitted projects in the Hradec Králové district. "We are very satisfied by this interest, as it shows the efforts of the members of city and local councils, school principals and teachers to provide citizens and school children with above-standard care," Jana Zahradníčková from the VIA Foundation comments.

Members of the individual evaluation committees are now carefully studying the projects. The names of the projects supported and the winning organizations will be published at gala ceremonies in the three regions during the last week of October. The results will also be published on www.lepsisvet.cz.

For more information, please visit the websites of the Via Foundation at www.nadacevia.cz and the Community Foundation of the Euroregion Labe at www.komunitninadace.cz.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.