TWENTY-TWO professionals within the international meetings industry came together to complete the first ever Imex Challenge in Poland in September.
The group of industry volunteers declared the three-day experience building a new playground and landscaped garden for a foster family in Poland a ‘huge and exhilarating success’.
This was the first ever Imex Challenge which is a new initiative from leading meetings industry, incentive travel and events exhibition Imex in Frankfurt, designed to promote the power of corporate social responsibility programmes through practical action.
Organised by Jon Bradshaw, business development director for the Imex Group, the first Challenge took place with the generous support of The Convention Bureau of Poland, the Polish Tourist Organisation, Meeting Designers, children's foster charity - Our Home, the Warsaw Convention Bureau and Radisson Blu Hotel Krakow.
Explaining the background to the project, Bradshaw says: 'For a while we had been eager to set up a charitable project that could allow meetings professionals to offer something to deprived areas and special causes that would directly benefit a host community. When we learned that a Polish foster family had applied for a grant to create an outside play area for the 13 children they looked after, it seemed like the perfect time to push ahead and make something happen.'
With the full backing of Imex, he set about recruiting industry professionals willing to offer their time and efforts over the three day project and was delighted to receive offers of help from 10 meetings industry professionals from as far afield as Dubai, America, Germany, Ireland, Iceland and the UK. Imex also sponsored two members of its own staff to volunteer, in addition to Bradshaw.
Each volunteer was asked to donate €2,750 ($3,772) to secure their place on the project, none of which was spent on accommodation, food or drink. Under the terms of the challenge these costs were covered by local supporting partners. This generated a total of €27,500 ($37,720) which includes an ongoing legacy for the upkeep of the playground plus further funds for the children's special education.