Community involvement

Our partnership with the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) sees us focus on two key issues: “first aid” and “mental health first aid”. Together, we offer incentives for people to attend first-aid courses and contribute to expanding the network of first aiders in Switzerland. Our employees also provided active support to the SRC in 2023, such as in the SRC’s “2x Christmas” campaign. They unpacked everyday goods that had been donated and sorted them for people living in poverty in Switzerland. Numerous employees also donated blood on World Blood Donor Day as part of a joint campaign with the SRC at Helsana’s headquarters in Stettbach.

The Giggle Doctors at the Theodora Foundation visit children who are sick or living with a disability. Their “medicine” offers relief and helps them to heal: carefree moments in difficult situations for the children and their parents. As a partner of the Theodora Foundation, we support this valuable work. Every month, more than 8,000 children throughout Switzerland enjoy a visit from the Giggle Doctors in hospitals and specialised institutions. During Theodora’s “Week of Happiness”, Helsana employees in Stettbach and Bern provided on-site support in the photo bus. Sponsors like Helsana made a donation for every heart selfie posted on social media, allowing numerous visits to be funded.

We also offer our customers the opportunity to support the two institutions: Plus points collected via the Helsana+ app as a result of their healthy lifestyle can be donated to the SRC or the Theodora Foundation.

We also lend a hand ourselves

“Committed to life.” We also live up to this promise through our personal commitment. Since 2016, Helsana employees have been volunteering with a great deal of passion for their fellow human beings and the environment as part of the corporate volunteering programme. Be it individually or as a group, they actively devote their time to good causes. Helsana supports up to eight hours of volunteer work per person per year. In the 2023 financial year, there were 27 one-day assignments involving 216 participants. One particular highlight was the first week of May 2023: Helsana responded to Coop’s call for a “Day of Good Deeds” and extended this to a “Week of Good Deeds”. Around 70 employees signed up and travelled throughout the country to help organisations such as Caritas, the SRC, Hof Narr, Pro Infirmis, WWF, Velafrica and the Züriwerk foundation.

• For the organisation Velafrica, they repaired bicycles, for example, and then sent them to Africa, where they are a welcome means of transport.
• “Swapping places” with the Züriwerk foundation that employs people with cognitive disorders was another highlight. Helsana employees swapped their office role for a job in Züriwerk’s production department for a day. They were extremely impressed by the cheerful, open and direct approach of the Züriwerk staff.

Every time we get involved in corporate volunteering, we not only support valuable projects but also receive true gifts ourselves. We learn new things, get to know environments we were not familiar with beforehand, and also see a different side to our colleagues from work. In short, it is a win-win situation for everyone involved.