La Banque Postale celebrates 10 years of L’Envol, its social sponsorship programme supporting equal opportunities

La Banque Postale, committed to education and equal opportunities, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of L’Envol, its social sponsorship programme supported by the French Ministry of National Education. This programme aims to facilitate the academic and professional achievements of talented young students from less privileged backgrounds across France. To mark this anniversary, La Banque Postale is launching a skills-sharing programme which, in 2023, will allow employees to contribute to the initiative during their office hours.

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Created in 2012, L’Envol, La Banque Postale’s social sponsorship programme, is a charity registered under the French 1901 law which fully involves its employees by encouraging their community engagement. This approach is driven by the Group’s values of inclusion and its status as a mission-led company.

Made-to-measure mentorship at the heart of our regions which has supported almost 1,000 young people over 10 years

This initiative provides selected students with individual mentorship, from the time they start sixth form until they enter higher general, technology or professional education (bachelor degree level) and/or employment.

L’Envol mentorship includes corporate networking, skills-building workshops (public speaking, self-confidence, etc.), cultural and institutional visits and intensive e-learning courses. Students are also introduced to tutors, the children of Group employees, in order to benefit from one-on-one lessons when faced with temporary difficulties in a specific subject.

Un groupe d'élèves de L'Envol célèbre les 10 ans de l'association au siège de La Banque Postale
The students of L'Envol celebrate the tenth anniversary of the association at the headquarters of La Banque Postale. (Credit: Thierry Fanchon/La Banque Postale)

In 2023, L’Envol will become a skills-sharing programme to allow employees to invest during their office hours and is committed to raising awareness among the young students to the ecological transition

Each year, around 100 sponsors, who are Group employees, commit to accompanying more than 100 new students towards success, by providing them with external support, orientation towards the world and society, and by believing in them and their capabilities. Thanks to the skills-sharing programme, as from 2023 employees will be able to invest in these young people during their office hours. Therefore, to take part in residential retreats with the students, employees will no longer need to take paid leave. Their commitments to L’Envol will be carried out on company time, according to their availability and in agreement with their manager. L’Envol has also set an objective to support young participants in understanding the social and environmental challenges of the future, to ensure that they became citizens who are more informed and better armed to face the ecological transition.

I would like to thank all La Banque Postale and Groupe La Poste employees who have taken part in the human adventure of L’Envol over the past ten years. They are at the heart of its success and have sometimes played a key role in the path of life of several students. We will make every effort in the years ahead to continue to grow L’Envol. This commitment is a source of pride for all of our employees and embodies the community spirit of our Group.

Philippe Heim — Chairman of the Executive Board of La Banque Postale

The first ten years of L’Envol in figures

  • Close to 1,000 students supported by L’Envol from across the country (mainland France and French overseas departments, urban and rural)
  • More than 1,000 sponsors, Groupe La Poste employees and retired employees who together dedicate 6,000 hours each year to the programme
  • 21 classes, of which 12 in the “general and technology path” and nine in the “career path”
  • 80% of alumni questioned considered that L’Envol helped them to network and provided access to contacts that were decisive for their future
  • 93% of them considered that L’Envol helped strengthen their general culture
  • 81% stated that, thanks to L’Envol, they had gained confidence in themselves and their capabilities
  • Three quarters of sponsors said that the programme enabled them to develop soft skills such as open-mindedness, listening and understanding*

*Source: impact study carried out during the1st quarter of 2022 by KIMSO.

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