Two years ago the Poland Convention Bureau PTO organised the IMEX Challenge Poland – a project allowing meetings industry professionals to support the local community through direct voluntary activities. Rather than collect money and financially support changes, the participants took matters into their own hands and got down to work.

220 wheelbarrows of sand, 280 of earth, 300 of bark, 160 pairs of gloves and 360 hours of work for 3 days – these are only some of the facts about the IMEX Challenge Poland 2010 project, which aimed at supporting the Family Children’s Home in Warsaw-Wesoła. Volunteers from nine countries completely redeveloped the garden, and built a playground and recreation facilities – all that over the course of a few days in September. They also funded scholarships amounting to EUR 4,000 for learning English, hippotherapy classes, and consultations with a speech therapist.

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The IMEX Challenge Poland 2010 was continued with the “BACK TO THE GARDEN” campaign, organised for the Polish representatives of the meetings industry. Its aim was to revitalise the garden in the Foster Home in Warsaw-Wesoła that was redeveloped the year before. Together with our friends we moved our workplace to the garden, switching computers and telephones for shovels, wheelbarrows, watering pots, and rakes. The fruitful efforts of the leaders of the Polish meetings industry were awarded with the sight of the beaming faces of children and the gratitude of Parents.

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Autumn 2012 will bring another edition of the “BACK TO THE GARDEN” campaign. This year industry representatives are invited to Kraków, where, in the grounds of a Children’s Home, over the course of two days of intensive work, we will create a green space perfect for entertainment, strolls, and leisure. Just as in the previous years, the project will be supervised and coordinated by professionals. The event is organised thanks to the support of local institutions from Kraków. Interested? Write to us!

Carina Bauer - IMEX Group, CEO

"The Convention Bureau of Poland was fantastic in helping us to organise the first-ever IMEX Challenge in 2010. It was a CSR project that we wanted to do for IMEX and for the whole industry. And having the Convention Bureau of Poland pull it together for us made it possible for us to do it. It was a fantastic experience for everybody that was involved. And more than that, it created a fantastic experience for the children in the Foster Home with the garden that we created. Working with the Convention Bureau of Poland for the first-ever IMEX Challenge in 2010 was a fantastic experience. They made it possible for us to do the IMEX Challenge and moreover they made it possible for the children in that garden to experience a wonderful garden."

Jonathan Bradshaw - Meetings Mindset, founder; foremer IMEX Business Development Director

"We took the first-ever IMEX Challenge in Poland in 2010. It was amazing. CSR – they know all about it. We really recommend it."