A growing desire for civic engagement
Divertimento orchestra, supported by the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, at the Philharmonie de Paris with the Hachette and Hatier choirs, June 2019 (Paris, France).
While environmental expectations have been growing constantly for many years, the search for meaning is also increasingly significant, particularly within the company itself, with people questioning its role in society more and more. That is why the company’s engagement with regard to society via actions that are in keeping with the heart of its activities, or the engagement of its employees who appreciate encouragement and support, is one of the major aspects of CSR at the Lagardère group. This desire to be engaged is expressed on all levels.
Firstly, through the engagement of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, which independently of the grants it has awarded for 30 years to talented young people from the world of culture, has also for the last six years given Commitment grants to charities supported by employees of the Group’s various entities.
At Hachette Livre, a similar initiative has existed for even longer in France, the Charitable action committee, which provides financial support for charitable projects promoted by employees. In 2019, ten or so charitable projects received awards, from democratising reading and writing to developing renewable energies, as well as help with education and literacy.
At Lagardère Travel Retail – where the philanthropic dimension is also highly developed, particularly in English-speaking countries – employees are involved in a number of projects across all regions. In France the division has for several years supported the charity Action contre la Faim, organising a number of campaigns to raise funds. On the other side of the Atlantic, by mobilising employees and passengers at US and Canadian airports, Paradies Lagardère is also invested to fighting hunger.
The Lagardère group’s engagement also has a cultural dimension. With a growing number of competitions, prizes, book donations and tutoring programmes to encourage reading (such as Hachette Book Group’s Read Ahead mentoring scheme) within the Group, examples of engagement can also be linked to economic events. In 2019, a number of initiatives were taken in France to support the reconstruction of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Several publishing houses, such as E/P/A and Le Livre de Poche, republished works and paid a portion of the profits to the national collection fund. Meanwhile, staff at Lagardère Travel Retail in France organised collection campaigns for Notre Dame at 200 sales outlets.
On a more musical note, singers from Hachette and Hatier took part in the concert organised at the Philharmonie de Paris to celebrate 20 years of the Divertimento orchestra, supported by the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation.
Key figure
922 Hachette Book Group employees were engaged in charitable actions in 2019.