FactualThe system introduced in 2003 is beginning to attract private companies but is struggling to develop in public authorities. With the exception of Seine-Saint-Denis.
A passion ? No, Emmanuel Matte, 59, would not say that cycling is a passion. But an art of living, a pleasure, a skill, without a doubt. This is why anyone who travels between 20 and 25 kilometers by bicycle every day is particularly happy to help the Cyclofficine de Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis), an association which organizes workshops to help citizens repair their bikes.
Emmanuel Matte is a pioneer. He is voluntary, but of a particular kind. It is indeed his employer, the departmental council of Seine-Saint-Denis, which allows him to work in this association, one day a month, during his working time. Like him, sixty “solidarity agents” from the local community work in the field of food aid, social support and even ecological transition.
This is called “skills sponsorship”. Supervised by a 2003 law, this system “has been developing a lot in the private sector for five years”, recalled Elsa Chaucesse, of the Pro Bono Lab association, during a conference organized by the departmental council on February 10. And today, according to estimates by Pro Bono Lab (with Admical), 21% of companies that make donations practice skills sponsorship, or some 22,000 companies.
But in the public, it had not yet taken. Seine-Saint-Denis is also proud to have been, in October 2020, ” the first department of France » to offer such a possibility to its eight thousand agents. It was the health crisis that triggered the movement. “Positioned on the front line, indicated the socialist president of the departmental council, Stéphane Troussel, local authorities have had to considerably strengthen their shield role, sometimes well beyond their own powers. »
Solidarity actions
The effort was carried out in close liaison with local associations. Skills sponsorship makes it possible to continue this joint work, even if the department already finances nearly 1,400 of them each year for more than 55 million euros in subsidies. The device, explained Mr. Troussel, “responds both to the human reinforcement needs of associations, in the field, but also to the desire for commitment of our agents”.
Emmanuel Matte testifies to the fact that some of his colleagues participated in these solidarity actions during the health crisis and that“they thought it was great”. For him, it’s a little different, since it was by cycling that he entered the system a year ago. And by association. It was indeed shortly after joining the Cyclofficine that he had the idea of proposing to his employer to integrate him into the system. This was done all the more easily as the department was already subsidizing the structure – for a total of 27,000 euros since 2013.
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