Almost 7,000 Volunteers Made Our Cities from Záhorie to Zemplín Better

Almost 7,000 volunteers took part in the 20th edition of Our City. Wearing T-shirts featuring the familiar slogan “My Heart is in the Right PLACE”, they could have been seen in 55 towns and villages across Slovakia. “Our goal is for people from companies to get to know specific nonprofit organisations and start a long-term cooperation. We appreciate that as many as 205 companies joined this year, showing that they want to contribute to positive change in their communities. Our City shows that making a difference often takes nothing more than simple actions and a willingness to give your time to others,” said Michal Kišša, Co-CEO of the Pontis Foundation.

Volunteer teams cleaned parks, painted benches and playground equipment in schools and family centres, helped restore cultural heritage sites, and spent time with seniors and clients of social care facilities. They were active from Záhorie to Zemplín – in the Stupava park, at the Miletičova Market in Bratislava, around the painted wooden houses in Čičmany, at the Nitra amphitheatre, around the boathouse in Anička Park in Košice, and at the Chapel of St Anthony of Padua in Michalovce.

New Activities Included Helping the Sokol Hall and the Slatinka Association

Two hundred organisations were waiting for volunteer help on the 5th of June, including Telocvičná jednota Sokol (the Sokol Gymnastics Association), which took part in Our City for the first time. Dozens of people helped restore the historic Sokol Hall, home to Slovakia’s largest Sokol gymnastics association. Another first-time participant this year was the Slatinka Association. In Zvolen’s Lanice Park, where the last remaining section of the original Hron riverbed can be found, volunteers helped restore wooden bridges and paths.

Company CEOs also regularly take part in volunteering. Some joined their own teams, while others came to help at the grounds of the Mother Alexia Primary School in Bratislava.

Company CEOs join Our City every year. This time, they came to help at Mother Alexia Primary School in Bratislava.

The 414 volunteer opportunities included restoration works at eleven castles and maintaining forest parks, but the busiest activities took place right in the cities, housing estates and public spaces. “Our City, which takes place across Slovakia, reminds us that change begins with people who decide to take action. We are pleased that Hornbach employees see volunteering as an opportunity to do something meaningful for the communities around them,” said David Kolář, Marketing Director of Hornbach for Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Hornbach employees volunteered in six cities. In Devín, they improved the area around a memorial; in Bratislava’s Vrakuňa, they worked on the grounds of a kindergarten; in Košice, they painted the terrace of a rehabilitation centre; and in Prešov, they repainted a room at a family centre.

The volunteers at the kindergarten in Vrakuňa got a lot done.

What the Participants Said About Our City

Zuzana Čuvala Bartošovičová, corporate volunteer, Hillbridges:
“Our City brings a bit of fun into the company, time outdoors, a mental break, and also a chance to connect with colleagues while doing something different than our usual work. We look forward to this volunteering day every year because we enjoy the activity itself, have time to talk to one another, experience something different, and then leave with a good feeling from a job well done.”

Richard Kellner, corporate volunteer, Komerční banka Slovakia:
“Our City gives companies the opportunity to leave their offices and regular workplaces and do something beyond their usual jobs. It allows colleagues to get to know one another on a different than work level, meet people from other companies and do something good for their city.”

Rudolf Mališka, corporate volunteer, Hornbach:
“We reinforced the safety surface under the swings, cleaned the sandbox and the drainage gutters. When I found out it was for children, I became even more enthusiastic about it, and overall, it gave me a really good feeling.”

Zuzana Kmeťová, Coordinator, Children’s Hope Club:
“The fact that so many volunteers came means that we can make a really large number of packages for children – something our organisation simply would not be able to do without this kind of support. The packages will help children who are currently in Bratislava hospitals.”

Thanks to the volunteers, Children’s Hope Club can distribute packages to hundreds of children in hospitals.

Milan Macháček, corporate volunteer, JP-Auto:
“I think it makes sense for companies to get involved in the life of their communities. They get to know organisations that need help, find out exactly what kind of help they need, and at the same time the event brings together people who are willing to help.”

Monika Vašková, Principal of Mother Alexia Primary School:
“When people from outside come and are willing to do something for the school, for our children and for our entire community, it is a huge plus. I wish Our City continued to thrive and to keep bringing people together and creating wonderful projects that help others.”

Our City Turns 20

Our City is the largest corporate volunteering event in Central Europe. It began in 2007 as Our Bratislava and gradually expanded across Slovakia. Over the past two decades, companies and institutions have sent more than 135,000 people to take part in Our City, contributing almost half a million volunteer hours.

Our City celebrated its 20th anniversary through volunteering, accompanied by a symbolic birthday cake.

This year is a special one for volunteering. Not only is Our City celebrating its 20th anniversary, but it is also part of the International Year of Volunteers, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly. All participants who volunteered wearing Our City T-shirts with the event logo have thus become part of the global volunteering map.

Take a look back at the online coverage to see what was happening in every corner of Slovakia on the first Friday in June. 

Photos from Our City can be found in our Facebook gallery.

Watch the VIDEO from the volunteering activities that took place on the 5th of June 2026.