·
The
FirstBank CR&S Week is a dedicated week designed to offer opportunities for
employees to give their time & resources to defined causes in line with the
Bank’s CR&S strategic approach;
·
The
FirstBank CR&S Week is held in
Nigeria and 7 other countries: United Kingdom, Ghana, DRC, Guinea, Sierra Lone,
Senegal and Gambia;
·
Since
its maiden edition in 2017, the FirstBank CR&S week in 2017 is fast
becoming a household name in the Bank’s host economies.
In furtherance of its continued commitment to
impacting the lives of individuals in its host communities across 7 Countries:
Nigeria, United Kingdom, Ghana, DRC, Guinea, Sierra Lone, Senegal and Gambia.
First Bank of Nigeria Limited has announced the Fifth edition of its Corporate
Responsibility & Sustainability (CR&S) week, scheduled for 22- 27
August 2022.
The
event which is themed: “Kindness…. A Way of Life” reflects the
single-minded purpose to make a difference in the world by inspiring and
institutionalising kindness. SPARK is an acronym for Start Performing Acts of
Random Kindness and it is a values-based initiative designed to raise
consciousness that we can choose to be kind.
The
FirstBank CR&S Week is a dedicated week designed to offer opportunities for
employees to give their time & resources to defined causes in line with the
Bank’s CR&S strategic approach. The CR&S Week will offer employees
opportunities to give their time & resources to defined causes. The Week’s
activities are an aspect of the Bank’s Employee Giving & Volunteering
Program, which was instituted to encourage employees to give back to the
community as well as inculcate in them the integral corporate culture of giving.
The
Bank held the maiden edition of the CR&S week in 2017 with a focus mainly
on three key initiatives/activities which were giving and visits to
orphanages/less privileged homes/IDPs; career counselling day; and Staff Promoting
Acts of Random Kindness (SPARK) initiative – which is now Start Performing Acts
of Random Kindness. The CR&S week has become more successful in subsequent
years and it is fast becoming a household name in the Bank’s host economies.
There
are five main activities to be implemented during this year’s CR&S Week in
Nigeria, FBNBank UK and across the SSA markets. These activities include SPARK
APP, Kind Comments Day, Visits to orphanage/less privileged homes,
SPARK School Engagement, and Women Economic Empowerment. The major highlight of
the Week will be the launch of the SPARK APP. The app is strategic in the
Bank’s journey to institutionalize “A Day of Kindness” on a national level, and
globally position the Bank as a Corporate Citizen in leveraging new media to
drive sustainability practices.
The
SPARK App is a sensational application designed to have individuals abreast
with the act of kindness through various kindness-based quotes and
inspirational phrases that will be displayed on one’s phone screen, especially
when the phone is idle.
Kind
Comments Day is an initiative that focuses on inspiring and encouraging
everyone to be deliberate with the use of kind words in relating or interacting
with anyone.
In
addition, with Women Empowerment, the Bank will support, VVF patients in need
of surgical operations and also empower them with vocational skills as they
integrate back into the society.
The
SPARK Schools Engagement will be implemented through the National
Competition of JAN SPARK School Integration. The activity is aimed at rewarding
the various participating students, following their SPARK activity, Through the
partnership with JAN, SPARK is integrated into the JAN Company Program, where
students are taught the values of SPARK. The SPARK schools’ competition has
been tied with Company programme regional competition,ensuring they imbibed the
values taught during the training. One of the highlights of the event is the
visit to orphanage homes and the less privileged, across various cities which
will be carried out by volunteers from the Bank.
Speaking
on the week, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, FirstBank said “The CR&S Week is another
opportunity to strengthen our commitment and extend our reach beyond the
communities where we operate in Nigeria and across our subsidiaries. Over
time, our goal has stayed the same, to create platforms through which our
positive impact is felt.”
“For
us in the FirstBank Group, beyond saying that we care, we take a step further
and show it,” he concluded.
Through
the years of commemorating its annual CR&S Week, FirstBank has impacted
lives across its host communities in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and its SSA
subsidiaries. These impacts comprise the partnership with Lagos State
Government on the provision of a Primary Health Centre at Ijedodo Community, Lagos
State; engagements with over 60 charities, Non-governmental organisations,
orphanages, correctional centres, schools and Internally Displayed Persons
(IDP) Camps which resulted in touching the lives of over 20,000 underprivileged
individuals in the society including widows, orphans and children with
disabilities.
About FirstBank
First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is the
premier Bank in West Africa and the leading financial inclusion services
provider in Nigeria for over 128 years.
With over 750 business locations and over 180,000 Banking
Agents spread across 99% of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria,
FirstBank provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial
services to serve its over 30 million customers. The Bank has an international
presence through its subsidiaries, FBNBank (UK) Limited in London and Paris,
FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and
Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.
The Bank has been handy at promoting digital payment
in the country and has issued over 10million cards, the first bank to achieve
such a milestone in the country. FirstBank’s cashless transaction drive extends
to having more than 10million people on its USSD Quick Banking service through
the nationally renowned *894# Banking code and over 4.5 million people on
FirstMobile platform.
Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has
consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of
good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and
leadership. Over the years, the Bank has led the financing of private
investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key
roles in the Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialisation schemes.
With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to
explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an
internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.
FirstBank has been named “Most Valuable Bank Brand in
Nigeria” six times in a row (2011 – 2016) by the globally renowned “The Banker
Magazine” of the Financial Times Group; “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” for seven
consecutive years (2011 – 2017) by the Asian Banker International Excellence in
Retail Financial Services Awards and “Best Bank in Nigeria” by Global Finance
for 15 years. Our brand purpose is always to put customers, partners and
stakeholders at the heart of our business, even as we standardise customer
experience and excellence in financial solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, in
consonance with our brand vision “To be the partner of the first choice in
building your future”. Our brand promise is always to deliver the ultimate
“gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on our
inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position You First in
every respect.
