Focus Estate Fund and UNICEF Polska create spaces for meaningful social impact

This year, the initiative has been carried out ten times across five shopping centres within the Fund’s portfolio: Turawa Park, Sosnowiec Plaza, Rybnik Plaza, Ruda Śląska Plaza and Ferio Legnica. Following the very positive response from visitors, the cooperation will be gradually expanded to additional shopping centres across Poland, becoming an important element of Focus Estate Fund’s ESG strategy.

The cooperation is built on the belief that shopping centres can play a much broader role than simply serving commercial purposes. Welcoming thousands of visitors every day, they provide a natural setting for raising awareness about the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges and the ways people can support children living in regions affected by armed conflicts, natural disasters and other humanitarian crises. They also create opportunities to promote awareness of children’s rights and the importance of protecting them, particularly where children are most vulnerable to violence, poverty and exclusion.

Through the presence of UNICEF Polska fundraisers, visitors can learn first-hand about the organisation’s work and join the UNICEF365 programme. UNICEF365 is a monthly giving programme that enables UNICEF to provide year-round support to children wherever help is needed most. Regular donations contribute to ensuring children have access to essential nutrition, clean water, healthcare, education and protection.

The initiatives have been very well received by visitors. On the days when the activities took place, the shopping centres recorded an average increase in footfall of approximately 9% compared with the corresponding days of the previous year. These results demonstrate that social initiatives resonate with customers and can further strengthen the role of shopping centres as places for community engagement, education and meaningful social impact.

“We believe that shopping centres can be places where people not only shop but also meet, learn and engage with issues that truly matter. Our cooperation with UNICEF Polska perfectly reflects our approach to responsible property management and the implementation of our ESG strategy. We are delighted that these joint initiatives have attracted such strong interest from visitors, and we intend to expand the programme across all of our shopping centres in Poland“ – said Anna Yavdonich, Head of Marketing at Focus Estate Fund.

“UNICEF Polska’s presence in shopping centres enables us to reach a wide audience and raise awareness of the challenges faced by children around the world. Our cooperation with Focus Estate Fund demonstrates how corporate social responsibility can be translated into tangible action and create space for important initiatives. This allows us to introduce more people to UNICEF’s work and encourage them to support children regularly through the UNICEF365 programme“ – said Paweł Barski, Marketing and Communications Director at UNICEF Polska.

The cooperation with UNICEF Polska forms part of Focus Estate Fund’s long-term ESG strategy. The Fund is consistently developing its shopping centres as places that respond to the needs of local communities while supporting education and social initiatives. In doing so, it creates an environment where business activity goes hand in hand with genuine social impact.

Over the coming months, the programme will be gradually expanded to additional shopping centres across the Focus Estate Fund portfolio. The long-term objective is to establish a comprehensive initiative covering all of the Fund’s shopping centres in Poland.