Pioneering commitment Successfully reconciling work and family is often a challenge, especially when returning to the workplace after parental leave. As part of its family-friendly corporate policy, Gira places paramount importance on actively supporting its staff in managing work and family life with measures that make a noticeable difference. The Gira children's day-care centre which opened in October 2014 was an essential element of this commitment. It cares for children until they can start going to regular nurseries. This Gira programme is very important to help parents master this time in which it is often difficult to find adequate childcare.

High-quality educational care The Gira children's day-care centre offers space for two groups of ten children each. This guarantees that high-quality educational care can be provided. To this end, only childcare staff with the appropriate accredited qualifications will be employed. The childcare services also include breakfast and lunch. The centre is also open during holidays to continue providing optimum care. In addition, the opening hours have been extended to meet the needs of parents more effectively. The company Kita Concept is the designated agency of the Gira children's day-care centre. It is also important to Gira that the childcare centre is non-denominational and politically independent. Parental contributions for the childcare will depend on the income-related table applicable in Radevormwald. With the Gira children's day-care centre, a lively group of infants is now also part of the company.

Comfortable architecture In the planning phase for the children's day-care centre building, Gira and the architects paid special attention to well-being and design. The building is optimally integrated into the hillside location and stands in harmony with the surroundings. Preference was also given to the use of sustainable building materials. The building has a wooden roof, made of an environmentally-friendly building material which creates a feeling of cosiness and a healthy room climate. Because the well-being of the children was at the centre of Gira's considerations, from the very beginning attention was paid to ensure the interior design caters to their needs and their various stages of development.