Sanoma Corporation, Press Release, 3 June 2014 at 16:05 CET+1Today Sanoma Learning, one of Europe’s leading learning companies, announced that its Polish subsidiary Nowa Era, has won the prestigious CSR contest “Benefactor of the Year 2014”.An innovative approach to education, comprehensive understanding of global problems of education and concrete initiatives to counter them, as well as a huge commitment of Nowa Era’s volunteers has been recognized by the Jury of the prestigious nationwide CSR contest “Benefactor of the Year” organized by Academy for the Development of Philanthropy, under the patronage of the Polish presidential couple.On 28 May, during the Final Gala in Warsaw, Nowa Era’s Managing Director Magdalena Duszyńska-Walczak received the statue and the title of the “Benefactor of the Year 2014” in the category of “Social project - a large company”.“I am very pleased that the results of our CSR policy have been noticed and appreciated. Our activities and business philosophy are based on two pillars: education and people. Our know-how, experience and active co-operation with schools and local communities give us a profound knowledge of the process of education, the problems and challenges it faces. We consistently engage ourselves in projects that enable to improve access to education and achieve better learning outcomes,” comments Magdalena Duszyńska-Walczak.In the first stage of the competition the Jury of the Contest selected three finalists from 66 reported projects. T-mobile (telecommunication sector), the BGK (banking sector) and Nowa Era were to compete in an online voting. Over a three week period, internet users could vote for the project, which they considered to be the most interesting and most valuable.The Polish President Bronisław Komorowski addressed a special letter to the laureates and participants of the Gala. It was read in person by the Head of the Presidential Chancellery - Minister Jacek Michalowski.“It is extremely important that Polish enterprises not only pay taxes, but also have open hearts and understand the needs of others. Thank you for all the award-winning, unique and noble actions, and the sensitivity to the needs of the people” - said on behalf of the President Bronisław Komorowski.Nowa Era’s two winning projects, which combine an innovative approach to education and commitment of volunteers:Edu Budzik. We wind up education: A CSR programme dedicated to the Primary school segment. It aims to equalize educational opportunities for children, to inspire pupils to discover their strengths, interests and talents and to support teachers and parents in motivating children. Among the activities of the programme were two-day scientific expeditions to educational centres (Warsaw, Cracow), with the attendance of 600 pupils supported by their 55 teachers. The other activities contained i.a: workshops for teachers and parents, printed and digital content-related materials, dedicated website. The crucial part in scientific expeditions were played by volunteers from Nowa Era.Volunteering project in Morocco for 20th Anniversary Celebration: Renovation of the Education Center in the mountain village of IDAOUGNIDIF (Morocco), which although built in 2002 has never been put to use. Under the patronage of the Polish Embassy and in co-operation with the non-profit association Navegadores, which deals with the implementation of development projects in Africa, the group of 130 volunteers was put to work. For four days, Nowa Era’s MD, managers and employees of all organizational levels, were performing a variety of construction and renovation works. Thanks to the commitment of Nowa Era’s volunteers, the Educational Center for women and a small kindergarten for their children is finally operating normally. The facility conducts literacy and vocational courses for women. The Educational Center is being used by a group of 50 women and their children.The contest “Benefactor of the Year”For 16 years, the Benefactor of the Year Competition has been the most recognizable and prestigious competition promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) among Polish enterprises – both large and small. The programme in numbers: operating since 1997, during 16 editions of the programme more than 4,000 companies have been nominated, 95 companies received the “Benefactor of the Year” title.Additional informationSanoma Learning, Communications Director, Trudy de Jong, + 31 653 549 223 or trudy.dejong@sanoma.comSanoma.comGet the world. Sanoma helps people access and understand the world.We believe in a world full of opportunities, feelings, reactions and inspiration. A world that you can reach, influence, explore and share. We want to make it yours.Sanoma is a front running consumer media and learning company in Europe. In Finland and The Netherlands we are the market leading media company with a broad presence across multiple platforms. Our main markets in learning are Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. In 2013, Sanoma’s net sales totalled EUR 2.1 billion. Sanoma is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange.