Clujul Are Suflet, the Banca Transilvania foundation, is hosting, for the first time, Clujul Are Suflet Week from May 30 to June 3 this year. It will be five days of events for the foundation’s friends and supporters. On this occasion, the Clujul Are Suflet 2015 Annual Report was released, with details about the foundation’s work, achievements, the team and dreams fulfilled.

The schedule for Clujul Are Suflet Week includes:

• Monday, May 30, 10:00–20:00: Open Day at the Clujul Are Suflet day centre (3 Gh. Doja Street, formerly Lupeni Street, Cluj-Napoca)
• Tuesday, May 31: A debate on education, organised by the foundation’s team
• Wednesday, June 1: ABT Financiar — Banca Transilvania’s largest financial education programme — for the young people at the day centre
• Thursday, June 2: Clujul Are Suflet Day at BT Cluj
• Friday, June 3: Sampling in Cluj with Clujul Are Suflet bracelets, handed out by the foundation’s young people themselves

Through its work, the foundation helps young people aged 14 to 20 stay in school, improve their grades, prepare for a trade and find a job. Each young person follows an individual plan that includes tracking school performance, tutoring in various subjects, activities to maintain motivation, school or career guidance programmes, as well as sports programmes for socialising or developing artistic skills.

Clujul Are Suflet: the figures represent people

Clujul Are Suflet is BT’s largest community involvement project. Launched in 2007 by Banca Transilvania, since 2008 the foundation has run a day centre in Cluj-Napoca dedicated to supporting young people from difficult backgrounds facing material, social or emotional hardship. Over 1,800 teenagers have found, over the years at Clujul Are Suflet, support, assistance, a kind word and a hot meal. Of these, more than 600 who were at risk of dropping out of school subsequently improved their situation. More than 150 young people supported by the foundation, tutored by the teachers on the Clujul Are Suflet team in various school subjects, passed the baccalaureate exam. What is more, 111 of them were admitted to university. As for vocational training, more than 200 took relevant courses, and over 300 found a job.

Thoughts from young people supported by Clujul Are Suflet

• Alexandra, 18: “Clujul Are Suflet has helped me a lot and continues to do so. I’ve been doing much better at maths since I started coming here, I’ve learned to write my papers on my own, and the psychologist helped me open up and find a summer job.”

• Diana, 17: “Since I’ve been coming here I’ve learned many new things, mostly in the group sessions run by the psychologists and the doctor, and also in tutoring because my marks have visibly improved. I believe everything I’ve learned here will help me a lot for the baccalaureate and beyond. With the psychologist’s help I discovered that a vocational course would be good for me; I will start one soon and hope to finish it with top marks.”

• Roxana, 14: “I feel that since I’ve been coming here I’ve changed a lot for the better. My school results have improved, and I’ve made friends.”

Credit for these results goes both to the young people supported by the foundation and to the Clujul Are Suflet team. The team comprises 15 people — teachers, psychologists, education specialists, social workers and a doctor.