CSR @ TCDF- Think global- act local! An article by APG’s employee charity foundation “SWAP”

In 2018 during the search for a great project, Yardena came across the Thai Child Development Foundation (TCDF). On behalf of SWAP, Yardena and Debbie were introduced to Rosalie through Facetime. We were impressed by what Rosalie was able to build up with her foundation and what she does for children with disabilities. Rosalie's always has great energy and enthusiasm. With Rosalie, we as SWAP also had our first digital meeting, far before corona times. Via Facetime, Rosalie spoke on a big screen from Thailand with our donors in the Netherlands about the farm, the children, and the project we were supporting at that time, the construction of a sports room and the construction of a sports field. The following year, in 2019, we as SWAP were able to contribute to the construction of dormitories with 30 sleeping places for groups of students, schools participating in educational camps, study visits to the farm, the vocational training project and volunteers working in the farm during their Thailand vacation. This increases the Foundation's self-reliance and in turn the self-reliance of the children with disabilities who follow vocational training at TCDF. In 2020, with the help of Rosalie , we helped the Anti Human Trafficking and Child Abuse Center (ATCC) foundation in Pattaya to purchase 80 school uniforms and 100 pairs of school shoes. Over the past few years we have been able to realize a few great projects for TCDF with SWAP. We and our donors are very proud of that.

Every year we organize a support trip for our donors to a country where we have sponsored a project. We would have loved to come to Thailand in 2020 to roll up our sleeves, but unfortunately the corona crisis threw a spanner in the works. Now we have to wait for the new developments.

Debbie Kwanten (treasurer) and Yardena Brouwer (secretary), together with 6 other board members, including 1 honorary member, are committed to the charities Stichting Samen Werken aan Projecten (SWAP) of APG.

With the help of donations from APG employees, we try to help very poor population groups in developing countries to build a better life. We do this by financially supporting projects in the field of construction, education and healthcare. We choose the projects carefully. We think it is important that the contribution of SWAP is recognizable and that we can establish that the contribution actually reaches the poor population groups. That is why we often opt for small projects. Do you want to know more about our projects? Have a look at: www.stichtingswap.nl

We ourselves work for APG (Algemene Pensioen Groep). Every day we work together with colleagues on something that millions of Dutch people will ever have to deal with or are already dealing with: pensions. As APG, we want to realize the best possible pension in a livable world for all participants and pension funds. Together we are working on a sustainable future in which we not only pay attention to prosperity, but also to well-being. Because for us, pension is about people, about life and living together. So that we, our parents and our children have a good income. Now, later and later. APG is the largest pension provider in the Netherlands and provides pensions for 4.7 million participants. We work for pension funds in the education, government, construction, cleaning, housing corporations, sheltered employment, medical specialists and architectural firms sectors. With approximately 3,000 employees, we work from Heerlen, Amsterdam, Brussels, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.