OMV Move & Help 2009: Moving on with reading

OMV, the leading energy company in the European growth belt, continues the corporate citizenship program OMV Move & Help in 2009. Together with the partner organisations Austrian Book Club, Caritas and UNEP (environmental program of the United Nations), this year’s focus will be on basic education, especially reading. This year’s motto is: Moving on with Reading.

• Reading-year is rounded off with the OMV Online Advent Calendar
• Austrianwide school reading activity with the Book Club for Youth
• Caritas: Unique in Austria
• UNEP: International educational program

Move & Help, the international social program of OMV, is already entering its sixth year. Just like at the beginning of the initiative in 2004, the main focus will once more be on basic education. Starting from Austria, the effort of fighting severe reading weakness up to illiteracy shall subsequently also be transferred to as many OMV countries as possible.

“OMV Move & Help puts the focus on current and socially relevant topics. Reading weakness is a problem with a strong social background. We want to put the spotlight on this problem with our initiative, as well as offering real help through our activities. This is definitely a part of our responsibility and a contribution to social security of supply”, explains OMV CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer.

Reading-year is rounded off with the OMV Online Advent Calendar

The end of the first year of the current OMV Move & Help social sponsorship initiative, 'Moving more with reading', is marked by a story-advent calendar. The fairy-tales are played out in the countries in which OMV operates. Although the stories are fictional, the customs and lifestyles that form their framework are true. These are stories for all ages that can be read to oneself, read aloud, or simply listened to. The texts have been read by actors Michaela Lobinger and Thomas Weissengruber.

Austrianwide school reading activity with the Book Club for Youth

The heart of the initiative OMV Move & Help – Moving on with Reading is the cooperation with the Austrian Book Club. Based on the fact that there are about 600.000 functional illiterates and that 21 percent of the 15-year-olds are afflicted by severe reading weakness, OMV, together with the Austrian Book Club, enables the realisation of the approved buddy reading concept. It will be put into action in about 40 schools in all of Austria throughout the year. Additionally, a very well-known supporter was won for this cause in ski-jumping double World Champion and winner of the four hills competition, Wolfgang Loitzl.

Reading-drawing-booklet “Philipp on his way” free of charge at OMV gas stations

Within the annual gas station activity in August a special edition of the successful Book Club magazine "Philipp", including coloured pencils, will be available free of charge at all gas stations. The circulation will amount to 75.000 editions.

OMV Move & Help Contest - Reading is a win 

Ten children attended at the invitation of the OMV Loitzl, Schlierenzauer & Co.

As part of the OMV social sponsoring initiative “Move & Help - moving more with reading" there was a special action at the OMV petrol stations in August. For this special issue 100,000 copies of a book club magazine PHILIPP were distributed for free. In addition to numerous stories, paintings and handicrafts there you found also a contest in it: Children should draw and send their favorite vacation destination to the OMV Move & Help reading testimonial Wolfgang Loitzl. Ten winners have been invited by the ski-jumping, double world champion and reigning Four Hills Tournament winner of the Austrian Ski Jumping Championships to Stams and Innsbruck. On the 17th and 18th October six girls and four boys aged seven to nine years came from all over Austria to see the ski-jumping stars from close range. And of course there was a greet and meet with Wolfgang Loitzl, Gregor Schlierenzauer and Andreas Kofler, where not only every autograph request was satisfied, but there was enough time for all photos.
A visit to the ski grammar school Stams, the imposing hill of Bergisel and a guided tour of the two-time Olympic city of Innsbruck, rounded off this eventful weekend.

Slideshow: Stams & Innsbruck

Reading Tent at “Nivea Family Festivity”< /span>

Since 17 years the Nivea Family Festivity is the epitome of summer-playing-festivities. In 2009 the two-days-event will once again take place at ten locations in Austria during July and August. OMV Move & Help is thereby represented by a Reading Tent which shall offer moments of quiet as opposed to the excitement on the fairground. Well-known athletes from the SK Rapid and ski jumpers will visit the Reading Tent as surprise guests and talk about their favourite reading matter. Each year the Nivea Family Festivity attracts over 250.000 children, youths and adults to the venues.

Caritas: Unique in Austria

The support of OMV Move & Help enabled Caritas to open the first integration house for girls in Austria in May, 2009. This facitlity is a place of refuge for socially disadvantaged girls and young women of the ages from ten to 20 years. Thereby the focus is on the comprehensive support of these girls. OMV Move & Help finances several educational activities that are offered at the integration house for girls. Among them are counsels for education and life planning (two hours per week), a mother-child-café (once a week), advice and information on learning and questions about the job market, workshops (three to four per week/Body exercise, self-defense, theatre pedagogy, media, artisanry), outdoor pedagogy and public events in the district. The centrepiece of the cooperation is a lending library which has already become a success since its opening and is being frequented regularly.

UNEP: International educational program

The cooperation with the UNEP, the environmental program of the United Nations, begun last year, the "Move4Nature Training Tour" in Hungary and Romania as well as the Iran does continue in 2009. The project focuses on the creation and support of Eco educational networks. Within a roadshow under the motto "Teach the Teachers" the local teachers in about 50 schools throughout the country are being trained. Subsequently they, as multiplicators, will then take up the environmental education of the pupils in the respective region. The training topics deal with subjects like environmental protection and PET-disposal (plastic bottles, etc.). Teachers and pupils will be trained until the end of 2009 with the help of especially devised school information papers in English and the respective national language.

OMV Move & Help at World Environment Day of UNEP

The World Environment Day was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1972 and since then is being hosted by a different country each year on June 5. This year Mexico was the host country of the main event under the motto "UNite to combat climat change". OMV Move & Help supported the environmental symposium within this event that took place on June 5 at the Viennese UNO City, where over 250 environment experts shared their knowledge in five different workshops.