Continuing the successful "Lonza Makes You Fit" program (Switzerland)
In cooperation with the organizers of the Gornergrat Zermatt Marathon, the project “Lonza Makes You Fit” was initiated in Visp and Basel in 2016, and remains a focal point of our community investment. The goal is to make Lonza employees fit for the Gornergrat Zermatt Half-Marathon. Lonza has developed a comprehensive training program and successfully prepares participants to complete the most beautiful mountain race in the world. In 2019, more than 200 employees from Basel and Visp have registered for the running project and 155 colleagues participated in the Gornergrat Zermatt (Half-) Marathon or Ultra.
In 2019, we were the main sponsor of the third edition of a race for the cancer charity Bärgüf. As part of our "Lonza Makes You Fit" program, nearly 80 Lonza colleagues participated in the event and raised more than CHF 70,000.
In recent years, the project in Visp was extended from running to cycling and the "Energy for Every Day" concept was set up to support a healthy work-life balance. For the last three years, around 500 employees have taken part in one or more programs. This is the equivalent of around 20% of our workforce in Visp.
The annual charity golf event (USA)
The Lonza Harvest Open is an annual charity golf tournament organized by volunteers from our site in Portsmouth, NH (USA). It raises awareness and funding for specialized projects for local non-profit organizations in the Seacoast region of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. During the last 17 years, we have raised more than $1.7 million for 36 New Hampshire charities.
Completing a 100-Day Health Challenge (UK)
During the summer, more than 420 colleagues at Lonza Slough and Cambridge took part in a virtual “Walk around the World” alongside 35,000 other teams as part of a health challenge. Our 60 teams of seven took part in exercise activities, as well as working to improve their approach to nutrition, mental well-being and sleep – all during a virtual tour, covering destinations such as Peru or Norway. Participants earned points and “trophies” along the way. Lonza Slough and Cambridge employees walked more than 532 million steps, which equates to a distance of more than 340,000 km. Among our participants, the number of employees who now meet the recommended 10,000 steps per day is 76% (compared to 25% before participating in the challenge).
Supporting the Lonza Arena (Switzerland)
We are the headline supporter of the new ice and sports center in Visp, which will officially be named Lonza Arena for the next 20 years. The new sports center will be the home of the EHC Visp (a Swiss professional ice-hockey team) and has a capacity of 5,000 spectators.