The Social Fund announced the results of the first All-Russian contest for the title of the best Communication Center for Seniors. Centers from Mordovia, Buryatia, and Chelyabinsk Region won the prize. The contest is designed to identify and encourage the best solutions for organizing leisure and awareness activities for the elderly, as well as to create a library of relevant practices to spread this experience throughout the country.
"Over three years ago, we launched our communication center pilot project," says Sergey Chirkov, Chairman of the Social Fund of Russia. "Today, it is an expansive federal network covering virtually all regions. The centers have transformed from mere points on a map into actual gravity points for thousands of elderly people. Every week, visitors come here for live communication, new knowledge and empathy. The contest has shown that our centers are living rich, creative lives."
279 communication centers from 79 branches of the Social Fund applied to join the contest. The highest activity was recorded in the branches for Volgograd Region, the Republic of Mari El, Ivanovo and Sverdlovsk regions and Kirov Region.
The competition included several stages. During the regional screening, the jury evaluated applications featuring the centers' key performance indicators and video greetings. 153 best centers qualified for the next stage.
The winners were:
Category: Communication Center with a coverage of up to 5,000 retirees
- 1st place – The Republic of Mordovia branch of the Social Fund, Dubyonki municipality.
- 2nd place – Ivanovo Region branch of the Social Fund, Gavrilovo-Posad district.
- 3rd place – The Republic of Dagestan branch of the Social Fund, Tarumovka district.
Category: Communication Center with a coverage of 5,000 to 10,000 retirees
- 1st place – The Republic of Buryatia branch of the Social Fund, Tunkinsky district.
- 2nd place – The Republic of Bashkortostan branch of the Social Fund, Arkhangelsk district.
- 3rd place – Arkhangelsk Region and Nenets Autonomous Area branch of the Social Fund, Kargopolsky administrative district.
Category: Communication Center with a coverage of over 10,000 retirees
- 1st place – Chelyabinsk Region branch of the Social Fund, Miass.
- 2nd place – Murmansk Region branch of the Social Fund, Apatity
- 3rd place – Primorye Territory branch of the Social Fund, Vladivostok, Leninsky district.
As a reminder, the Social Fund opens communication centers to help organize meaningful leisure for the elderly generation and help people learn to use electronic services, as well as better navigate pension and social support issues. They provide computer and financial literacy training, consultations on fraud protection and personal finance management, hold tours, creative workshops, literary evenings, and other events to promote rich and active living for elderly people.
Currently, there are over 1,000 centers in operation across the country. They have already hosted 180,000 events, with 1.7 million people attending.
Multiple partners assist the Social Fund in operating those centers, including the Russian Association of Retired Persons, the Healthcare Ministry, the United Russia party, the Znanie Society, veteran organizations, human rights commissioners, culture institutions and volunteer movements