Tobolsk hosted an awards ceremony to honor winners of a grant contest

8 february 2023

2023 saw sixteen of Tobolsk-origin projects become winners of the grant contest implemented within the framework of the Formula for Good Deeds, SIBUR’s social investment program.

The winning grant projects had been initiated by state-run and municipal institutions, as well as by local non-profit organizations focusing on public welfare.

Over the years that the Formula for Good Deeds program has been under implementation, a whole community of grantees has emerged willing to pool their resources for the sake of implementing their projects resulting in cohesive actions undertaken by the of leaders of Tobolsk-origin projects and by our federal-level partners. In contrast with 2017, when we could clearly see such relationships established in only a handful of the projects implemented as part of our program’s Culture focus area, our coverage now additionally spans across such areas of focus as Sports, Volunteering, Inclusion, and Education. Our company attaches a great deal of importance to achieving a sustainable effect of developing champions of local change, as this is the reason why we embarked on implementing our Formula for Good Deeds program, Elena Belskaya, Head of the Department of Government Relations and Socio-Economic Projects at ZapSibNeftekhim LLC, noted.

Inclusion

The program’s focus area of Inclusion was spun off as an independent area of activity in 2022. Soon after, a Tobolsk-based unit of Tyumen regional chapter of the All-Russian Society of the Disabled, a national-level non-profit organization, won a grant to implement its Workshops of Our Own project. The project will help set up workshops focusing on 4 fields of applied arts and crafts that will engage people with disabilities. Thanks to these workshops, with their cozy ambience and an atmosphere of emotional warmth, their participants will be able to unlock their creative talents, socialize and improve their quality of life.

This project is being implemented for the sake of people with disabilities, as it gives them the opportunity to socialize, feel relevant and useful to their communities, and learn the ropes of a new profession. We can succeed at anything we try! Svetlana Yelpina, a supervisor of the Workshops of Our Own project, commented.

Culture

The quality of life in any given city or region is defined by their level of culture. SIBUR has been playing an instrumental role in advancing the development of local culture scenes, boosting communities’ creative potential, and making them more appealing to tourists. Relevant cultural projects have been featuring exciting events, support for groups of creative individuals, experience sharing and training, and setting the stage for new leisure and entertainment opportunities.

A total of five projects will be implemented in 2023, including:

- Siberia’s Craftsmen, an Artisanal Festival and Fair;

- Tobolsk's Woodwork Patterns, a wooden architecture restoration festival;

- The Art Wing, a creativity studio;

- CineGarage, a film festival;

- In Touch with the City, a series of seasonal theatrical performances.

By implementing our cultural projects, we are creating an opportunity to reach out to each other while doing it in a very special way by using art as a dialogue medium. Our film festival will help bring people together into a single viewing hall, and that is already quite an achievement, already something very intimate! Maria Balina, author and curator of the CineGarage film festival project, noted.

Education and Science

SIBUR has been a staunch proponent of a systematic approach to enhancing education in the fields of science and technology. The list of projects it has supported includes: development of education infrastructure, implementation of advanced educational methods, training and development of teachers, stirring up school students’ interest and boosting their motivation to study chemistry, physics and other natural science disciplines. The city will be hosting the following projects in this area:

- MegaHack, a marathon of hackathons;

- Swings, a family festival;

- Environmental Chemistry.

Volunteering

The Formula for Good Deeds has been instrumental in helping rally the company’s own employees and residents of the city around universal human values and in engaging them in implementing socially relevant volunteering projects. These activities have helped make an important contribution to the development of the volunteering movement in the city and to effecting positive change in the area.

The Right to Life Center for Helping Stray Animals, an autonomous non-profit organization, is implementing its Furry Home project seeking to improve the quality of life of homeless animals that are kept in the shelter.

Dvizheniye (Movement), a local athletic and patriotic club, is on a mission to create an enabling environment for educating well-rounded and socially responsible individuals that would be based on universally shared spiritual and moral values, by means of carrying out various cultural and patriotism-themed events as part of the Work, Brothers! project.

What makes this project particularly relevant is the fact that the problem of homeless animals continues to stir up controversy. We have to make sure that stray animals can no longer be allowed to continue living in neglect and to keep dying out on the streets of the city, Elena Rasputina, mastermind of the Furry Home project, noted.

Sports

SIBUR has been providing its comprehensive support for projects promoting sports and healthy living. It has helped the city refurbish local sports facilities as part of its True Tobolsk program, hold athletic tournaments and festivals dedicated to various athletic disciplines, while also providing training and professional development opportunities to coaches and other experts. Over the 7-year history of the Formula for Good Deeds program, its Sports focus area has been an important part of the program’s schedule of activities making it possible to amass a wealth of methodological and organizational experience by grantees and to define long-term goals for the development of children's and youth sports. The following projects will be supported in Tobolsk in 2023:

- A Skiing Family, a sports and education project;

- Onwards to the Volleyball Olympus!

- On the Way to Athletic Victories!

By taking part in sports tournaments held on different levels, our children are able to get a lot of competitive experience. Thanks to our project that is being supported by SIBUR, this can be done with greater efficiency and professionalism, since one trains the best by taking part in real competitions! Tatyana Chupina, Head of the Department of Athletic and Public Events at Tobolsk’s Children's and Youth Sports School No. 2, noted.

Environmental protection

Environmental projects help preserve biodiversity, promote responsible attitude toward nature, and popularize separate waste collection. They have served to bring together representatives of environmental organizations, eco-activists, volunteers, and caring individuals.

Clean Way, a Tyumen Oblast-based regional non-profit environmental organization, is implementing an environmental project called Green School aiming to popularize eco-friendly habits and make them a part of life of the project’s participants by such means as discussions, eco-lessons, and various other types of activities.

It is not at all fortuitous that our eco-educational project has come into being. People are increasingly aware of the need to care about our environment. This is what’s on people’s minds, what is relevant, and timely. We are responsible for the environment our children will live in and we want the younger generation to be responsible, caring and capable of addressing various environmental issues. We would like to thank SIBUR for supporting our project, Ekaterina Kugayevskaya, the non-profit’s chair and manager of the Green School project.