RWE Companius special funding competition – and the winners are…

In December 2007, RWE Companius launched the special funding programme “15 x €5000”. The applications for special funding of €5,000 for projects involving a particularly high level of commitment were to be submitted by 22 January 2008. Owing to the very positive response (60 applications in total) the RWE Companius team decided to increase the number of projects eligible for special funding from 15 to 20.
We are very pleased with the high level of commitment on the part of our employees and hope the programme will translate into another small contribution to the common good.

The following projects received special funding and have since been seen through to completion:

Sweet dreams guaranteed

Thanks to the proactive community involvement of an RWE employee and the support of RWE Companius, the dormitory of St. Paul’s nursery school in Augsburg has just undergone a long overdue facelift. As the room is used for both afternoon naps and for physical education, the atmosphere was anything but conducive to sleep. Thanks to special funding from RWE Companius, however, parents were able to give the room a fresh coat of paint and add some child-friendly décor. There were even funds left over for the purchase of new beds and bedclothes.

Konnichiwa at a school retreat

More than 60 children and young people recently spent a whole weekend learning the Japanese martial art of Aikido at a schools field centre in Bliensbach in south-west Germany. In between training sessions, the youngsters from Aikido clubs in the area covered by the RWE grid were offered recreational activities such as a torchlight hike and barbecue with their parents to help them get to know each other better. The sporting weekend was organised by an employee of the RWE regional subsidiary LEW, who is an aikido coach in his spare time. The successful weekend project was facilitated by the RWE Companius special funding competition.

“Hoses at the ready!”

When their landlord unexpectedly decided to terminate the lease, the members of the Bubenheim junior fire brigade in Koblenz suddenly found themselves without a premises. Not only did they need a new venue for their own meetings and training sessions, but it had to be somewhere that could be used by other local youth groups as well. All that the fire brigade itself had was a shed for its equipment; converting that was clearly going to require a lot of hard work. With the help of RWE Companius, however, the shed was indeed enlarged and modernised so that it could be used for regular meetings and training sessions as well.

A training ground for four-legged life-savers

That rescue dogs are capable of the most amazing feats is common knowledge. What hardly anyone knows is how time-consuming and expensive it is to train these dogs. With no suitable training ground nearby, the Hundestaffel Rhein-Lahn-Taunus e. V. had to travel long distances in order to train its dogs. Thanks to the support of RWE Companius, however, this problem is now a thing of the past. The special funding provided was used to create a “rubble site” on the club’s own premises where the dogs can be trained as earthquake rescue dogs.

More fun at break time!

The schools complex in Dinkelscherben houses both a primary and a secondary school. The brand new schoolyard now features a store for the sale of snacks during break as well as lots of games and activities which are likely to be especially popular with those who stay on for after-school care. The project was made possible thanks to a combination of RWE Companius special funding and lots of hard work on the part of the pupils themselves and their parents.

A great idea all round

The Kettwig boules club in Essen was nothing if not ambitious. Being aware of the importance of opportunities to learn the value of teamwork, it devised a three-month-long programme that would teach young people how to play boules. The teams were made up of both the schooled and the unschooled, the disabled and the non-disabled, all of whom had a chance to get a taste of what is now a popular recreational and competitive sport. Thanks to the special funding provided by RWE Companius, the project proved to be a resounding success.

A roof over their heads

In the absence of a proper bus shelter, many of the children who go to school in Bad Bentheim were frequently left standing out in the rain. Some empathetic RWE employees decided that this could not go on indefinitely and having obtained funds from the RWE Companius special funding competition, purchased a new bus shelter which was then installed with the help of RWE employees.

Kids on the move

The Knirpsekiste e. V. in Recklinghausen is a day-care facility for children aged 1 to 3. The centre had set its heart on redesigning the outdoor play area to promote physical play and early learning among the children entrusted to its care. Thanks to the special funding provided by RWE Companius, it was able to go ahead with its plans, installing a sandpit, a crawl tunnel and a playhouse that will help sharpen the children’s perceptual, linguistic and motor skills.

What do we want? A new playground!

The playground of the primary school in Bettingen had certainly seen better days. In fact, it was in such a state of disrepair that most of the equipment had to be dismantled and taken away, much to children’s chagrin. Thanks to the personal involvement of several RWE employees, parents and children, however, the old playground was soon replaced by a new one, which not surprisingly is much better. The initiators of the project obtained special funding for the project from RWE Companius.

Good grades for the music society

The music society Asbach-Bäumenheim e. V. is committed to the teaching of music to children aged between five months and twelve years. Babies and toddlers are introduced to music through play, while older children can learn a musical instrument and play in the band. In the winter months, however, the society used to find its work made more difficult by the fact that the cold concrete floors were covered by no more than a thin floor covering. This in turn resulted in huge heating bills. Thanks to special funding from RWE Companius, however, the floors are now properly insulated and a cloakroom for the children has also been installed.

At last a real playground!

The village of Hoffeld used not to have a playground for the local children. Thanks to the efforts of lots of voluntary helpers and the RWE Companius special funding competition, however, this situation has now been put right. New equipment has been installed and children of all ages are delighted with the results.

English is easy!

That English is becoming ever more important in everyday life is something the Josef School in Warendorf had long been aware of. Unfortunately, however, the school lacked the kind of facilities that are needed for language-learning at primary level.

Thanks to special funding from RWE Companius, this has now changed. “Our English Island” is a classroom designed specially for language-learning that transports children into a completely different world. The “English atmosphere” combined with top quality materials such as English picture books, computer programs and a digital camera promises to make English lessons not just effective, but fun as well.

Saving energy at the youth club

The old barn of the parsonage at Bell in western Germany had become a popular meeting place for young people, despite being in a state of serious disrepair. Thanks to special funding from RWE Companius, however, both the walls and ceilings of the barn have now been properly insulated. The oil-fired stoves have been replaced with a timer-controlled stove that runs on wooden pellets and the centre has been completely refurnished.

Active fun for children and young people

The children and young people of Trittenheim had long wanted somewhere to kick a ball around. The site was available; what was lacking was the equipment. Thanks to the RWE Companius special funding competition, however, even this could be purchased. The site is now properly fenced in with a high fence and has goal posts at each end. The project was made possible thanks to funds from RWE Companius and the hard work of numerous volunteers.

A great schoolyard instead of a tarmac wasteland

Until just recently, the schoolyard of the primary school in Daaden would certainly not have got far in a beauty contest, given that it consisted almost entirely of a vast expanse of tarmac. Both parents and teachers naturally wanted to remedy this situation and were therefore delighted to win the support of the RWE Companius special funding competition.

New equipment and creative features such as plants and flowerbeds have now transformed the schoolyard into a pleasant place to be.

Turning hiking into a learning experience

Lots of people, including numerous parties of schoolchildren, go hiking on the Westwaldsteig, the 235-km-long hiking trail from Bad Hönningen to Herborn. Thanks to the support of the RWE Companius special funding competition, a hut with display panels has now been erected in Kescheid in the district of Altenkirchen so that hikers can learn more about the farming and forestry that goes on in the region.

Let’s play outside – but together!

St. Josef’s children’s home in Werne has two premises on neighbouring plots, which until just recently were separated by a fence. One is a home for children who are chronically ill and the other a family centre which operates a day-care centre. Thanks to funds from the RWE Companius special funding competition, the two plots have now been merged and the grounds redesigned to create a wonderful play area. Several RWE employees volunteered to help install new equipment, a swing, a tree-house, some new plants and animal pens to house the home’s menagerie.

More creature comforts for campers

Camping tends to generate a true sense of adventure only when the tent is pitched as far away as possible from all human habitation. The trouble is that without fresh water and electricity, only the very hardiest can survive. With the support of RWE Companius, the youth department of the rifle club Schützenverein Hünningen-Lüttringen e. V. in Ense in the Sauerland solved the problem by building a car-towed trailer containing a mobile kitchen equipped with its own generator and fresh-water tank. Thanks to this inventiveness, there is nothing now standing in the way of more outdoor adventures.

Learning all about rivers

Every year, thousands of visitors flock to the town of Melle to observe a rare natural phenomenon. This is what geographers call a bifurcation, meaning the splitting of a river into two arms, each of which drains into a different basin. The bifurcation in Melle is the only one of its kind in Europe. Thanks to special funding provided by RWE Companius, a special printed panel has now been set up to provide visitors with more information about the life of the river.