Social | Community
Activities related to health

The World Health Organization (WHO), based on an analysis of causes of death by income level, notes it is important to address health improvement according to the needs of each country and region. The Bridgestone Group improves the sustainability of communities by contributing to efforts to improve local health conditions and to create a culture of healthier lifestyles.

In 2023, 249 initiatives^*1 related to health were implemented in 24 countries/regions, including 182 initiatives involving external partners,^*2 the participation of 5,465 employee volunteers,^*3 and reaching 76,628 people^*4 from the community.

Counting of initiatives varies by country or region.
Counting of partners varies by country or region.
The number of volunteers is the total number, including estimates for some activities.
The number of people who directly benefited from the Group’s activities, which vary by country and region and only include those activities for which the Group has confirmed the status.

Wheelchair tennis class (Japan)

Bridgestone Corporation started organizing wheelchair tennis classes in Japan in 2017. It aims to create opportunities for people with disabilities to go out and interact with others through sports, become independent, and participate in society. Improvement of the sports participation rate by people with disabilities is one of the social issues the Company would like to address, and it also believes its initiatives contribute to increasing awareness of social contribution and the engagement of its teammate volunteers.
In 2023, the Company organized three classes at its own tennis court in Kodaira, Tokyo. Since 2017, a total of 213 people, ranging in age from four to 89 years old, have enjoyed playing wheelchair tennis through this program.

Active and Healthy Lifestyle (Japan)

Since its founding in Japan in 1931, the Group has supported activities that improve the lives of individuals and communities. These efforts are known collectively as Active and Healthy Lifestyle (AHL).

AHL activities help build a symbiotic society in which diverse people recognize and help each other. Such a society encourages all people to be healthy in mind and body, make the most of their individuality, and achieve self-fulfillment. Toward the realization of this symbiotic society, the Group aims to solve social issues faced by the elderly and people with disabilities by co-creating solutions with local communities and various partners.

Bridgestone promotes initiatives to realize a symbiotic society through art and has been holding events to exhibit the artwork of people with disabilities at the Bridgestone Innovation Gallery in Kodaira, Tokyo, since 2021. The Company hopes visitors will deepen their understanding of the people with disabilities who live in Kodaira by interacting with them through the art exhibition, and also learn about the people who support them. To promote interaction among visitors, the Company organizes related events in cooperation with the local community, including the discussions with disabled artists about their artwork, workshops to experience work at welfare workplaces, and sales events of products from those workplaces. In addition, Bridgestone organizes a concert for diverse groups of people, providing the opportunity to interact and enjoy themselves through music and dance.

Through these exhibitions and events, visitors are able to interact with people with disabilities and those who support them, and learn about their daily lives and work. These events are a great opportunity to think about diversity.

This initiative is held in collaboration with Disability Week events (organized by the Japanese government Cabinet Office), Musashino Art University, Shiraume Gakuen University, and several welfare workplaces and civic groups in Kodaira. These events have been enjoyed by a total of 3,900 people over the past three years.

Supporting food security during trying times (Singapore)

For the third year, Bridgestone Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (BSAP) and Bridgestone Tire Sales Singapore (BSTSG) continued their support for Willing Hearts – a charity soup kitchen that delivers over 7,000 meals daily to those in need.

1) Tire Sponsorship
To help foster safe mobility, BSAP and BSTSG carried out a tire safety training and check program with Willing Hearts and their fleet of 15 vehicles, and sponsored tires to ensure the fleet is traveling on safe tires. BSAP and BSTSG collaborated with their client, H-Tyres (a dealer that also helps to service Willing Hearts’ vehicles), who will then help Willing Hearts fit the tires at their convenience.

2) Meal Deliveries
A group of 10 volunteers helped deliver around 100 food packages to over 50 locations across the island. After completing this task, the volunteers then headed back to Willing Hearts to join the kitchen volunteers.

3) Kitchen Volunteers
A total of 31 BSAP and BSTSG employees were assigned to a hot kitchen to help with rice cooking and packing, as well as the raw food preparation.

Delivering doorstep affordable and accessible community healthcare services (India)

Improved health, as measured by health indicators, is believed to contribute effectively toward the socio-economic advancement of any group, and “achieving good health and well-being” is also a prominent goal of the UN’s SDGs. However, it is always a huge challenge for society to make healthcare services affordable and accessible, especially in rural areas where people suffer due to lack of infrastructure.

To overcome these challenges, Bridgestone India has been active in achieving community healthcare advancement through various initiatives. As one example, Bridgestone India has launched Project Arogyam, which includes outreach doorstep healthcare services provided through a mobile healthcare unit (MHU) for the rural communities around its manufacturing units located at Chakan (Pune) and Kheda (Indore). Equipped with a team of experienced medical and para medical professionals, a stock of medicines and basic lab tests, these units cater to more than 41 villages and provide preventive as well as curative healthcare services. These services are further strengthened by a strong network and referral services. The initiative is focused on bringing quality health services to the doorstep, thus ensuring early detection and treatment, saving travel time and cost, easing the burden on availing services, making care more affordable and accessible, and thus positively impacting health supporting behaviors.

The MHU does not only serve as a medical consultation unit, but also facilitates health education on various common health issues such as COVID-19, malnutrition, anemia, water and sanitation, tuberculosis, and diarrhea. MHUs have built strong and amicable working relationships with the secondary health support systems in nearby villages and have witnessed significant improvement in menstrual hygiene, sanitation, and adolescent issues. A total of 1,032 sessions have been organized on various health-related topics and 9,284 community members have attended. In total, more than 50,000 community members have been reached through out-patient department and behavioral change communication awareness sessions.

B-Olympic (BSEMEA)

B-Olympic is a user-friendly digital platform that collects all types of data on physical activities translated into kilometers (walking, running, cycling, swimming, weightlifting, shopping, gardening, etc.).

Each year, BSEMEA sets an ambitious challenge for itself to amass kilometers by doing physical and non-physical activities to reach a target, while encouraging a more active and healthier life style. Once the yearly target is achieved, a donation is made to BSEMEA’s 17 local charities dedicated to cancer prevention. In 2023, BSEMEA’s teammates achieved its target of 2.2 million kilometers. B-Olympic has managed to donate nearly EUR890,000 over the past six years to local charities, with EUR135,000 donated in 2023 alone. Teammates from Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Poland, and many other locations are participating in this initiative.

Blood donation Bari Plant (Italy)

Bridgestone Bari employees donated 241 units of blood and/or plasma in 2023 and 247 units in 2022. Bridgestone, thanks to its donations, exceeds the percentage of blood donated by the population of some cities in Puglia.

Barretstown Camp for Seriously Ill Children (Ireland)

Bridgestone Ireland teammates volunteered to paint, garden and tidy storage areas at Barretstown Camp for Seriously Ill Children. The Camp relies on outside volunteers to help with maintenance to prepare for their busy season, during which they provide respite breaks for over 10,000 children and their families. A total of 20 teammates volunteered eight hours each at the camp.

Support for Handi Free Riders Association (France)

For nearly a decade, the Handi Free Riders (HFR) association has been aiding riders with disabilities, giving them a renewed lease on their passion for motorcycles. Established by a rider who experienced a severe motorcycle accident himself, the Handi Free Riders association’s mission is to empower disabled riders to revitalize their love for motorcycles and roar back onto the circuit. Bridgestone has been supporting the organization since 2016, with a contribution of €15,000 annually. Thanks to HFR, many riders return to their bikes after months or even years of perseverance. For many, getting back on their bikes is a journey of rediscovering life, hope, and triumph.

Support for the transformation and reform of childhood cancer hospitals (Spain)

The Juegaterapia Foundation was born from the intention of humanizing the treatment of childhood cancer through the transformation of gray and unused hospital spaces into colorful and comfortable spaces for children. This year, Aitor Rey and María José Fernandez, representing Bridgestone Spain, participated in the inauguration of the Garden of the Niño Jesús Hospital. After many years of contributing to “El Jardín de mi Hospi” (the Garden of My Hospital), the hospital is now full of color and joy for children suffering from cancer. Currently, the Niño Jesús Hospital is in the study phase to launch a new project. Therefore, in 2023 we expanded our collaboration to include other hospitals in Spain. Specifically, we are moving to Malaga, focusing on the “El Valle Encantado” (The Enchanted Valley) project of the Maternal and Child Hospital of Malaga.

Bridgestone Sales Iberia conducted a raffle campaign led by company teammates. The money from the campaign was donated to the Juegaterapia Foundation. The money raised goes directly to support the Malaga Maternal and Child Hospital project. In addition, the Group has also collaborated in the organization of a solidarity Christmas lottery. Bridgestone and First Stop reserved a tenth share in the Christmas edition of Play Loterias, and for every purchase of a tenth share, €1 was donated to Juegaterpia. Through these campaigns, Bridgestone Sales Iberia itself has donated €1,000 while employees themselves raised €1,327.

Safer accessibility and mentoring with people with disabilities (India)

This project is aimed at helping people with some form of disability become more self-reliant by providing required accessible, smart, customized and safer mobility solutions. It has reached 100 meritorious, eligible people with physical disabilities from financially disadvantaged families, enabling them to achieve their life goals through higher education and financial independence. Thus, it helps this section of society boost their confidence and achieve their targets by bridging the barriers. The project also extends substantial mentoring, guidance and support, tracking development and growth toward financial independence over a period of at least three years. It has also created a platform for the exchange of thoughts and support systems with like-minded people through socio-cultural events that also boost the confidence of participants.

International Women’s Day and monthly precariousness (Middle East and Africa)

As part of International Women’s Day, Bridgestone MEA partnered with Mouvement Femme et Parole to organize a discussion with 40 underprivileged girls on the subject of menstruak insecurity.
Worldwide, menstrual insecurity is recognized as a barrier to women’s professional and personal development. The purpose of this conference was to help in the fight against monthly precariousness by educating girls about feminine hygiene and menstruation and to give them practical advice. At the end of the discussion, Bridgestone MEA teammates distributed 100 sanitary pads and 25 sanitary kits.

Bridgestone Athletics Centre (Australia)

Bridgestone Australia and New Zealand (BSANZ) believe in the important role that sports can play in fostering excellence and resilience for the next generation. The former BSANZ tire factory at Salisbury, Australia, was developed into a world-class sporting facility named the Bridgestone Athletics Centre. The expansive area (6.8 hectares) has been donated to the City of Salisbury, in addition to financial contributions made by Bridgestone. The dramatic blue running track has been built using 50 tons of recycled rubber. The Bridgestone Athletics Centre is open to the public, and is a key training ground for athletes of all levels.

Refurbishment of basketball court (Thailand)

With a focus on an Active and Healthy Lifestyle (AHL) and well-being, Thai Bridgestone Co., Ltd., together with the BSTL sales team, collaborated with local dealer Sri Racha Krit Karn Yang and COCKPIT Laemchabang Inter Autotire to contribute to the community through the refurbishment of a public basketball court at Laemchabang Health Park. Upon completion, the court was handed over to the local municipality, which will be responsible for management and maintenance. The court is frequented by locals in the mornings and evenings, and it is an ideal location for exercising and playing friendly matches.

Social | Community Activities related to health