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Smile Foundation and the employees of Barclays Bank got together to celebrate ‘Make a Difference Day’ with residents of Nut Colony, an urban slum in Chattarpur on November 6, 2009. ‘Make a Difference Day’ is an annual event of Barclays in which the bank’s employees voluntarily participate in large numbers to support social issues.
Representatives of Smile Foundation with 30 employees of Barclays Bank went to Nut colony, a resettlement colony and spent the entire day conducting different awareness activities for the underprivileged people there.
With the guidance of Smile Foundation, the Barclays’ employees were engaged in many playful activities like Ice Breaking, Fun Quiz, Extempore, Dance Competition, Painting Competition and Dream Sharing, etc and were greatly successful in bridging the gap with the community people of Nut Colony.
“A smile on the faces of the children made our day. It was a delight to be associated with such soul refreshing workshop. Every child is special and Smile Foundation is working hard to ignite that spark in these children, trying to give them a better future. This is just the beginning. We are looking forward to many such opportunities in days to come,” says National Manager, Collections Legal, Barclays Bank.
The colony people were sensitised about Sexually Transmitted diseases and especially HIV/AIDS. It was following the surveys conduced by Smile Foundation through Swabhimaan, a programme on women’s health and empowerment. The study report stated that flesh trade is common among the community women here and hence the risk of sexually transmitted disease is more in the community.
A health awareness and sensitisation camp for all age groups was also conducted with the help of Smile on Wheels, a mobile hospital programme of Smile Foundation. Barclays’ employees enthusiastically volunteered in it. The health camp offered services like treatment for eyes, general OPD service, pathology etc. Free medicines were distributed to around 210 patients and spectacles were provided to all those having vision problems.
Young girls were provided Career Counselling and Personality Development classes. Similarly, for children of age group (0-5 years), many fun activities were conducted.
About 300 people benefited from the programme. The community people participated enthusiastically in all the programmes and were greatly benefitted by the information exchange and health services provided during the day. It may be mentioned that Barclays Bank is committed towards social issues and Make a Difference Day is an employee engagement programme organised with underprivileged children. It creates a positive impact involving all kinds of people from the community.
“It was really a touching experience for each of us to be a part of this programme. I participated in MADD for the first time. All of us share a moral responsibility towards the society. Smile Foundation is doing a great job. Wishing Smile Foundation success in all endeavours,” says a Barclays representative.
