What is the Brussels 20km?
The Brussels 20km is a half-marathon run in Brussels every year. The race passes through the city’s most famous landmarks and parks, such as Parc Cinquantenaire, the Palais de Justice, and even past Optimy’s office in Boitsfort. The first race was held in June 1980, with little more than 4,500 runners taking part. Each year, the race attracted an increasing number of participants. This year’s 20km was especially noteworthy. It is the first time since 2019 that the physical marathon has taken place. The 2020 race was unfortunately cancelled due to the initial COVID-19 outbreak. In 2021, runners were encouraged to register virtually and run from anywhere in the world.
The Brussels 20km is a fantastic opportunity for the Bruxellois to sponsor and fundraise for the charitable causes that they care about. It raises about €2.3million for charities yearly. This year, Optimy took part, sponsoring La Scientothèque.
Optimy’s sponsee: La Scientothèque
Who are La Scientothèque? La Scientothèque offers educational support to young people aged 4 to 20 in the form of school-related and extracurricular activities in numerous disciplines, namely Arts, Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. They also offer support to professionals in the education sector, particularly with introducing technology and digital education into schools. This support comes in the form of internships, vocational training, homework groups and workshops for both young people and professionals. All of this is with a vision to combat social inequalities.
Some of La Scientothèque’s main objectives are to:
- Promote a high-quality education, accessible to all
- Prevent school drop-outs
- Stimulate interest in science and technology
- Reduce inequalities linked to gender and background
- Promote positive self-esteem in young people
- Encourage autonomy and confidence in young people
- Familiarize young people with teamwork and collaboration
- Encourage critical and civic thinking in teachers and young people
If this cause is something that you’re passionate about, you don’t have to run 20km to support it! You can make a monetary donation, donate your time and skills or donate equipment. Find out more about that here.
Optimy at the Brussels 20km
We want to congratulate everyone who took part in the Brussels 20km, and particularly those at Optimy! Nine of our employees took part in the 20km this year for La Scientothèque. We interviewed some of them to get an insight into how they prepared for this event, and what it means to them.
Optimy: “How did you prepare for the 20km?”
Nikoletta: “For one month, I tried to add up the kilometers. I was doing 5, 7, 10, then I managed to do 15 one time.”
Panos: “I did 5k runs twice a week. Then, for the past month, I did two or three 10k’s. In terms of nutrition and stuff, I didn’t change anything.”
Optimy: “How did your colleagues and friends get involved in this activity?”
Nikoletta: “They sponsored me. So they gave me some money for the foundation we’re supporting. But also, they came to join, and support me throughout the run and things like that.”
Optimy: “Do you think volunteering is important for businesses nowadays? Is it important to you?”
Panos: “It’s really important to help our community. To stand for them, and to look out for each other.”
Nikoletta: “Oh definitely, I mean, look around here. Almost everyone has a branded t-shirt. I think that’s the way to go. It’s something very rewarding, but also nowadays there are so many ways that you can help it’s weird if you don’t… You can donate your time. You can donate your money. You can donate your skills. So I think that every little thing helps. I think in order to do big things, you need to start small. Everyone is doing a little something.”
A big congratulations again to Panos, Andrea, Cédric, Johanna, Riccardo, Nikoletta, Aaron, Anamaria and Javier for this great achievement!
Our social impact
As a company that has helped thousands of projects to achieve optimal social impact, corporate volunteering and sponsorship are incredibly important to us. Through this particular volunteering activity, Optimy managed to fundraise a little over €750 for La Scientothèque.
You may wonder what the benefits of community investment and corporate giving are. Not only does it provide opportunities and resources for those local to you, but it can be of great benefit to your organization as well. By investing in and giving to those around you, you create a community of skilled and educated candidates right at your fingertips. It is also a great motivator for today’s workforce, who care more than ever about CSR. Interested in finding out more? Check out this article we wrote to guide you through the process!
Want to increase your social impact? Optimy can help you! Click here to contact us for more information.
