Our sustainability strategy pursues the overarching objective of making a positive contribution to a livable and just society. For this reason, we support projects in the areas of social affairs, health and sport and use our expertise and resources in various initiatives – both regionally and internationally.
More than just sport
As an international logistics company with Hanseatic roots, we stand for open-mindedness and acceptance. Together with SV Werder Bremen, we have taken a clear stand against racism. On the campaign day during the match against VfL Wolfsburg in March 2024, the motto “Klare Kante gegen Rassismus” (“A clear stand against racism”) was visible. As an official partner of SV Werder Bremen, we had the honor of providing the player escorts for the green and white squad to walk onto the pitch – a special moment for many bright children’s eyes. “Diversity is an indispensable part of our company,” emphasized Matthias Magnor, who welcomed the young fans on site. We talk more about our commitment together with Werder Bremen in our stories.
In addition to soccer, basketball was also a focus once again in 2024: BLG LOGISTICS has been supporting the basketball players on the Eisbären Bremerhaven team for almost two decades now and remains their loyal partner. As the main sponsor, BLG places a special focus on long-term work with young players to promote the next generation of talent. Following the motto “Mission 7001”, the Eisbären broke a new record, with over 7,000 fans attending their home game at the Bremen ÖVB Arena – an ambitious goal with a charitable background. For each ticket sold, the sponsors donated one euro to charity. The mission thus combined sporting passion with social commitment and showed how much good can come out of it when fans, clubs and sponsors work together.
The Schach macht Schlau chess festival
In 2024, the annual chess festival of the “Schach macht schlau!” (“Chess sharpens your wits!”) school project took place for the sixth time in a row. Around 1,200 primary school children gathered on Bremen’s market square to celebrate the end of the school year together. BLG LOGISTICS is committed to supporting the project that integrates chess as a fixed part of education. The aim is to provide children with strategic thinking and new incentives, in addition to traditional learning content.
Raised plant beds for children, Wald & Wiese Bremen e.V.
A special social project for junior managers and trainees involved creating raised plant beds for children with Wald & Wiese Bremen e.V. The non-profit, member-led association in the middle of Bremen aimed at bringing nature closer to children and young people from the city, together with animals such as horses, goats and chickens.
In June 2024, the trainee group supported the association with its work over two weekends. On the first weekend, the focus was on designing and constructing the raised beds. With a whole host of craftsmanship and teamwork, six stable beds were created from donated pallets. Two weeks later, the beds were moved to their final place, filled with soil and planted with various plants. Pallets and other materials such as screws, soil and plants, were provided as part of generous donations.
The “Schenk ein Lächeln” campaign
Participation in the “Schenk ein Lächeln” (“Gift a smile”) campaign of Bremer Tafel e.V. has long since become a matter of the heart and a firm tradition for us at Christmas time. Headed up and organized by our young managers, almost 100 gifts were collected from BLG employees once again in 2024 and handed over to the children by Santa Claus. This initiative shows that even small gestures can have a big impact – and put a smile on the faces of so many children.
Cultural engagement
BLG LOGISTICS has been involved in musical and cultural projects for many years and supports the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (German Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Bremen), among others. Since 2007, the renowned orchestra has been at home in the district of Osterholz-Tenever – an area of Bremen with a high level of child poverty and educational disadvantages. The Kammerphilharmonie set up its “Future Lab” there to inspire young people and open up new prospects for them. Together with professional opera singers, the students at the local comprehensive school take to the stage – accompanied by the world-class orchestra. They are supported in this great project by the entire district. Costumes and stage sets are also produced in-house. Together, Matthias Magnor and STRAUSS COO Matthias Fischer presented a check for EUR 10,000 at the Bremen Oldtimer Classics Rallye to support the district opera project. “This project is very close to our hearts,” Matthias Magnor explained during the handover. “The district opera brings together a wide variety of people, lets them create together and consciously adopts ideas and influences from a multicultural world. This creates strong bridges that connect people and give students future prospects. This project combines these opportunities to shape the future with logistics and BLG.”
Projects close to our hearts
As a company, we regularly support clubs, campaigns and projects that are close to the hearts of our BLG colleagues. Employees can propose topics that are particularly worthy of support concerning matters close to them, and the funding projects are then selected from among all the submissions. In 2024, a total of seven projects from different areas were given funding, including the initiative Jugendhilfe Bremerhaven e.V., the Kitzrettung Flögeln e.V., the Bärenherz children’s hospice and the Radeln ohne Alter (Cycling knows no age) initiative. The BLG Board of Management has made a total of 5,000 euros available for these projects close to our colleagues’ hearts.
Support for the UN World Food Programme
For more than ten years, BLG LOGISTICS has been working with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian organization in the fight against hunger, as a partner organization. We provide our logistics expertise by inspecting and evaluating ports, roads, railway lines, warehouses and other logistics facilities.
Last year, staff were able to contribute their expertise to a mission in Malawi, among others. As a landlocked country, Malawi is fully dependent on imports from ports in Mozambique and Tanzania. The country is also vulnerable to natural disasters such as droughts and cyclones followed by severe floods, placing additional demands on the country’s infrastructure. During the on-site mission, colleagues analyzed access and connections to the relevant seaports in Mozambique.
The aim was to assess Malawi’s logistics capacity, taking into account the logistics corridors from the relevant seaports in Mozambique, to identify potential bottlenecks and to derive recommendations for increasing efficiency and using alternative modes of transport.