SPAR Austria and insurance company UNIQA have donated €10,000 to children’s charity Herzkinder Österreich, supporting children with heart problems. The donation was raised by the 1,600 of the companies’ team members, who tracked each step taken since January in SPAR Austria’s Health Coach app. A total of 127 million steps were counted – far exceeding the initial goal of 100 million.

127 million steps

“With campaigns like this, we offer UNIQA and SPAR team members an incentive to get more exercise in everyday life. Everyone could join in – hiking, walking, or running. The motivation to support children’s charity Herzkinder Österreich was very high”, said Filip Kisiel, Project Manager of UNIQA HealthServices.

“In our SPAR Health Coach app, we provide tips on exercise, nutrition, and mental fitness to support a healthy lifestyle. Via a balance sheet, we were able to track our progress daily”, said Dr Renate Fellner-Färber, Head of SPAR Health Management.

Every year, about 700 children in Austria are born with heart malformations. Herzkinder Österreich supports both these children and their relatives through various counselling initiatives.

“We help parents of children suffering from heart diseases find support, advice, and assistance. We work closely with the Children’s Heart Centres in Linz and Vienna, the Children’s Cardiology Departments in Innsbruck and Graz, as well as paediatric cardiologists from all over Austria”, said Michaela Altendorfer, Managing Director of Herzkinder Österreich.

‘Healthy at SPAR’ initiative

At SPAR Austria, employee health is a crucial part of the overall corporate strategy. Since 2011, SPAR has run a sustainable programme through the ‘Healthy at SPAR’ initiative, strengthening health awareness and supporting long-term healthy behaviour.

The company’s health-oriented measures are based on the pillars of nutrition, exercise, mental fitness, and prevention. For its comprehensive commitment, SPAR Austria has repeatedly received a national quality seal for workplace health promotion.

Source: SPAR Austria

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About SPAR Austria

The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined with other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.

With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has developed SPAR in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy. With sales of €8.3 billion and impressive growth of 16%, SPAR Austria became the market leader in the Austrian grocery trade during 2020, after being a market growth leader for over a decade.