Story 2025/06/30
Committed together – how we support social projects
Twice a year, our employees have the opportunity to cast their vote and determine the proportion of donations for social projects on the crowddonating platform “there for you”. The first round of voting in 2025 was recently completed. With our support, one of the projects directly reached the donation target.
Galenica has been the main partner of the crowddonating platform “there for you” since 2022. Organisations and private individuals can use this platform to collect donations for social, humanitarian and sustainable projects. “there for you” guarantees a careful selection of initiatives and the greatest possible transparency, from project implementation to completion. Donors can support numerous different initiatives. As the strongest network in the Swiss healthcare market and in line with our vision: “Health and well-being are at the heart of what we do. They are the reason we give our best every day”, we focus on projects in the areas of humanitarian aid and child welfare in Switzerland and/or with a Swiss focus.
Our employees have a say
In recent years, the collaboration with “there for you” has become an important pillar of Galenica’s social commitment. The Group’s employees play a key role in this. On the one hand, they have a say in which projects receive a donation, and on the other hand, Galenica also supports initiatives that come directly from the workforce.
One example of this is “Pharmaciens sans frontières”, an initiative led by Sabina Sommaruga Phillot, who has been working as a pharmacist at the Amavita pharmacy in Genève Plainpalais for many years. She aims to improve the supply of medicines and access to medical support for so-called sans-papiers, i.e. people without legal residence status.
A second example is a project by “autismus Schweiz”, the largest association dealing with autism in Switzerland. The association’s president Rita Apfelbaum, a pharmacy assistant at the Amavita pharmacy at Wädenswil railway station, wants to use a flyer to raise awareness among pharmacy staff on how to deal with people on the autism spectrum. The project received around 30% of the votes cast in the employee poll and was therefore awarded a donation from Galenica.
The first projects in 2025
In the first round of voting this year, Galenica’s approximately 8,000 employees were able to vote for one of the following initiatives:
Each of the projects is supported by us with an amount of between CHF 1,200 and 5,400. One of the projects was able to reach its donation target directly as a result.
We would like to thank Galenica for placing its trust in our project and for helping Fatemeh and other women with refugee backgrounds to get off to a positive start in Switzerland.
Olivia Guler, Project A Space for Vulnerable Women (United Women Switzerland)
Added value for both partners
The collaboration with “there for you,” which will soon be four years old, is based on mutual trust and brings added value to both partners. With a focused commitment, we can support various organisations while involving employees in the process. This can both strengthen the sense of belonging within our network and also help to raise employees’ awareness of the importance of ESG issues at Galenica.
The digital form of fundraising also fits in with our digitalisation strategy.
And the applicants are actively involved. We receive regular updates on the projects as well as thank-you letters or videos when the project is completed.
To date, Galenica has supported around 30 projects, including three from employees and several initiatives from the same organisation. The next round of voting for further donations will then take place in autumn 2025.
The collaboration in figures
- 4 years of partnership
- 30 projects/initiatives supported > of which three projects from our own employees
- Approx. 20 contributions for internal communication
- 3 stories in annual and half year reports
- 3 “there for you” events attended by several employees
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