Banca Popolare di Bergamo Foundation approves its 2023 Social Report. The value of solidarity in 2023 is over 760 thousand euros allocated, in the form of contributions to public bodies, ecclesiastics, associations, foundations and other third sector entities, to the Foundation’s various areas of intervention: the social; the protection of the artistic and historical heritage; the culture; education and training; scientific research and the environment. The Foundation, founded in 1991 by the then Banca Popolare di Bergamo, today operates alongside Intesa Sanpaolo under the leadership of the president of the Foundation Armando Santus.
The one just published is your third Social Report. How is the commitment of the Banca Popolare di Bergamo Foundation evolving?
«Also in 2023, the Banca Popolare di Bergamo Foundation, alongside Intesa Sanpaolo, confirmed itself as a source of energy for the territory and local communities, dedicating attention to emerging needs and demonstrating proactivity in identifying and stimulating valuable projects. These are numerous “micro-initiatives” which, considered individually, present a small amount, but which provide fundamental support to those who would be unlikely to receive it from other institutions, more oriented towards larger projects. The Bpb Foundation thus confirms its commitment to carrying out its role by placing the interests of the entire Bergamo community at the centre. The season of the Bpb Foundation is therefore not over: on the contrary, the practice of considering the Foundation at the service of any and all projects or initiatives is over.”
The needs of the most vulnerable segments of the population are growing, in the city and province. What are the main realities that were supported by the Foundation in 2023?
«Third sector institutions and bodies active in the fields of health care, fragility, education and welfare were involved. Among the main projects I mention “Crescendo – Giocando” aimed at children hospitalized promoted by the Amici della pediatricia association of Bergamo; the creation of a sensory room for young people with autism spectrum disorders promoted by the Istituto Suore Poverelle–Istituto Palazzolo di Grumello; the purchase of a bronchoscope for the diagnosis of lung tumors by the Aob, the Bergamo oncology association. But also support for scientific research through targeted projects such as that of the Angelman association with the From Foundation and the scholarships for the Artet Foundation and the Mario Negri. Without forgetting, finally, initiatives aimed at addressing increasingly evident social difficulties, especially for people who live on the margins of the community, and professional training for entry into the world of work.”
The Banca Popolare di Bergamo Foundation has always supported the valorization of a vast historical and artistic heritage, present in the city and province, truly precious even if often hidden.
«It is a heritage always in need of care. In the year of Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture we supported with 200 thousand euros (intervention allocated already in 2022) the restoration promoted by the Mia Foundation of the sixteenth-century wooden choir by Giovan Francesco Capoferri and Lorenzo Lotto in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, in the Upper Town. But there have been numerous apparently “minor” interventions, small contributions which are fundamental to guarantee the conservation and valorisation of true treasures preserved in the area. From the restoration of the apse of the Romanesque church of Sant’Alessandro in Viadanica to that of the church of San Giuseppe in Bergamo, from the interventions in the church of Santa Elisabetta in Leffe, in the Sanctuary of Ardesio, up to the arrangement of the organ of the parish of San Rocco in Barzana”.
How did 2024 open?
«The first contributions allocated by the Banca Popolare di Bergamo Foundation this year – 85 thousand euros – contribute to stemming the growing economic and social fragility in the area. The beneficiaries are the Life Help Center which supports expectant mothers and mothers with newborn children in conditions of great difficulty; Patronato San Vincenzo for the project “Welcoming is giving life” which facilitates the social and work integration of particularly fragile people; Father Alberto Beretta of the Capuchin Friars of Bergamo works for the soup kitchen and the Bergamo diocesan Caritas which, through Diakonia supports, among other activities, the social and economic reintegration of people deprived of personal freedom: all initiatives to combat poverty and serious marginalization” .
