One day, Maciek entered the BrandGeeks room – the team responsible for marketing and employer branding – and asked if we would like to participate in the next edition of the Złombol Rally. Złombol is a great charity rally of classic cars from Poland’s communist era and since 2007 its Foundation has been collecting money to support children and youth in orphanages. It all started many years ago, when three friends created a charity event by driving around the world in old cars. Why the old ones? Because on the one hand, they wanted to give them a new life, and on the other, they knew that such cars would attract attention and help raise money for orphans. So they combined their passion for the automotive industry with cooperation for a good cause.
in the preparations, because each rally crew has to organise their start on their own. A team of three was created spontaneously – Maciek from the financial department, Olek from sales and Robak from marketing. Our organization made a donation to the Foundation and helped us renovate the Fiat so that it could be prepared for the hardships of the route. And the route itself wasn’t easy, because the finish line of the rally was assumed to be about 2,500 km (c.a. 1,500 miles) away! The preparations took several months. We met after work and worked on the car, planning logistics and gathering equipment for the trip. We tried to anticipate the unpredictable and prepare for it in the best way possible.
The day of departure arrived! We set off in a friendly atmosphere from the Spodek Arena in Katowice, accompanied by several hundred crews – this year there were over 400 of them! We drove through Slovakia and Hungary to Romania and from there to the finish line in Golden Sands in Bulgaria. The diversity of our rally team was very helpful during the trip. Various characters, temperaments and experiences helped us deal with breakdowns and surprises on the route, which is undoubtedly a big challenge for both the old car and the crew spending several hours a day behind the wheel. What’s great about this rally, apart from the charity event, is the feeling that you can always count on your and other crews’ help. At Złombol, you meet people who, apart from being unusually passionate, have big hearts and together form a friendly community.
It is awesome to work in a place that supports unique passions and noble actions.
Here are some statistics:
— we drove almost 4,500 km – we were on the Black Sea in Golden Sands.
— we travelled across 5 countries
— we visited 3 capitals
— 2 times we slept on the beach
— we spent 2 nights behind the wheel
— we had 5.5 mechanical failures
— 7 days on the road
Over 400 crews participated in the 14th edition of the rally.
Złombol collected over PLN 1,300,000 in 2021!
Apart from providing our people with a safe and healthy working environment, we do our best to help them contribute to the benefit of the environment, our local community, education, and sports initiatives.
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