The Rexel Foundation helps vulnerable people back to work

Rexel’s conviction that an energy transition cannot be achieved without solidarity led to the creation of the Rexel Foundation for a better energy future in 2013 and placed the fight against fuel poverty at the heart of its mission. Since that time, the Rexel Foundation has worked in some 20 countries and lent its support to 75 projects, working in collaboration with more than 70 partners and helping more than 175, 000 people. Its work is supported by the belief that only by working in close collaboration with the communities it helps, can the solutions it offers be effective.

For example, the Rexel Foundation has offered its support to “Un toit vers l’emploi”, a project launched by the NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde, which offers mobile homes (named ‘tiny houses’) as well as help with getting back to work to the homeless as well as to people without a fixed address, or those living in insecure housing who want to better their situation. The project, which is being deployed in the city of Rouen in the North of France and will later be rolled out to other cities, aims to build 40 sustainable homes locally, working hand-in-hand with the vulnerable people it is helping.

Rexel France employees have also lent their expertise to the project by putting in place a system for the generation and storage of energy in the form of a kit, powered by solarpanels that can be recycled. This kit offers an autonomous and clean source of energy that is both kind to the environment and improves the comfort of the home’s occupants.

You can discover more about this project by watching the video here:

In 2020, the Rexel Foundation lent its support further afield to the association LP4Y and their “Green Village” project in India, which aims to help youth living in poor and remote rural areas far from the labour market, to develop an entrepreneurial spirit and bring them into the world of work. A group of 20 young people aged 17 to 24 took part in the project in Raipur, which focused on designing, building and managing a small solar farm. They also received training in communication and teamwork and were given access to a network of partners and local stakeholders.

Watch the video presenting the project here: