Sus­tai­na­bility in 2025

Sustainability once again had many faces at Bayer 04 in 2025: In the social sphere, the club supported countless regional campaigns, whether with the Leverkusener Tafel, the Frauenennotruf Leverkusen e.V. or the homeless aid organisation "Kältegang". But Black & Red has also been involved in good causes around the world - including the Young Coaches training programmes in Uganda and Ecuador as well as the Genuine World Cup in the USA, where the Inclusion Works team competed. Bayer 04 was also fully committed to the environment and had itself externally and independently certified in accordance with the European environmental management standard EMAS, for example, in order to analyse and optimise its own environmental efforts. The sustainability year 2025 in retrospect.

January: Bayer 04 continues commitment to voluntary work

The new year started with a new award. For the first time, the city of Leverkusen awarded the Sports Youth Volunteer Prize, which is aimed at particularly committed young volunteers in sport. Bayer 04 donated the prize money of €500. In a festive atmosphere at Morsbroich Palace Bayer 04 CEO Fernando Carro together mayor Uwe Richrath, handed over the cheque to award winner Gianna Ingber who demonstrated outstanding commitment to her riding club and the Bergisches Land district association.

February: Werkself campaign for health and democracy

February also began with the presentation of a donation - this time, the new paediatric palliative care unit at the Klinikum Leverkusen hospital was delighted to receive €6,615.74 at the home game against TSG Hoffenheim. The impressive sum was made up of the proceeds from a jersy raffle in December 2024. Other donations came from the auction of Werkself trading cards and from the raffle proceeds from the Fan club party at the DFB Pokal final in Berlin, the Silberlöwen Christmas party and the Bayer 04 fan club "Spreelöwen" from Berlin. "We are delighted to be able to make a contribution together with our fans to support the valuable work of the paediatric palliative care unit in Leverkusen," explained Matthias Adler, head of fans and sustainability at Bayer 04.

Bayer 04 took the Bundestag elections as an opportunity to organise the 'Democracy and stadium as place of learning workshop for a school class from the Leverkusen Realschule am Stadtpark together with the DFL Foundation at the BayArena. There, the pupils learnt about the importance of a functioning democracy and their own opportunities to participate in political processes, before a stadium tour rounded off the exciting experience. Bayer 04 management and players also e encouraged participation in the elections in a video message.

 

March: Fans and club do a good turn together

A new month and a new donation: In the second jersey competition, Bayer 04 fans were able to buy tickets for match-worn jerseys from Aleix Garcia and Granit Xhaka. The entire proceeds of €2,015 were donated to the Leverkusen Women's Emergency Hotline, an advice centre against sexualised violence.

As part of the Werkself's home match against Werder Bremen, Bayer 04 called for donations of food and money for the Leverkusener Tafel e.V.  at the BayArena - and the fans delivered! Thanks to the large number of donors, the food bank was able to collect several hundred kilos of non-perishable food and €1,800 in financial support. Another reason for Bayer 04 to be proud of the fans.

As in February, the BayArena was transformed into a special kind of classroom in March: As part of the "TOGETHER!" campaign day organised by the DFL and the German professional clubs, Bayer 04 hosted an interactive workshop where pupils were able to explore topics such as mutual support, respect and empathy in order to create a positive environment through their own behaviour - both in football and in everyday life.

April: Bayer 04 social commitment around the world

Together with the Football Club Social Alliance (FCSA), Bayer 04 coaches train Young Coaches as instructors in African and South American countries to offer young adults prospects and children a safe environment. In April, Peter Quast and Benjamin Seifert travelled to Ecaudor to train the participants to use football activities to promote resilience, integration and mental health in the children and young people they train. "Many of the participants come from very vulnerable backgrounds and want to make a difference. And that is precisely what motivates them to become Young Coaches in their communities," explained an enthusiastic Quast. This time, the focus was on inclusion and education through sport.

Once again in April, Bayer 04 reaffirmed its long-standing partnership with Frauennotruf Leverkusen e.V. and donated proceeds from the Bayer 04 fan jumble sale at the Werkself home match against Union Berlin (0-0) - a total of €9,310.93 went to the organisation. A real charity highlight! The women's emergency hotline regularly supports the club with training and education in relation to the ‘Luisa is here!’ support programme for people affected by sexual harassment at the stadium.

May: From organic food to bike tour

At the beginning of May, Bayer 04 set an example for healthy eating among children: For the first time, the Werkself took over the nationwide BioBrotbox camapaign for the City of Leverkusen under the motto ‘We are first class!’. Every year, first years in numerous cities and regions in Germany receive a lunch box filled with a healthy breakfast from organic farming or organic production when they start school in the summer. In Leverkusen, the NaturGut Ophoven e.V. support association organises the packing campaign, with chair Marianne Ackermann delighted "to have Bayer 04 Leverkusen as a partner that stands for sport, exercise and healthy eating". As usual, the lunch box packing campaign took place in September.

In addition to Bayer 04's two fundraising campaigns for the benefit of Frauennotruf Leverkusen e.V., which had already raised over €11,000 in donations in the previous months, the sale of Bayer 04 Women's team match-worn kit in May generated an additional €5,500, which also benefited the organisation. Matthias Adler emphasised the good cooperation between Bayer 04 and the project: "Frauenennotruf Leverkusen does enormously important and good work, not least as part of the 'Luisa ist hier' project at the BayArena. It's great we can support this work together with our fans."

Once again, Bayer 04 fans also got involved in a good cause. Werkself supporter Frank Müller followed the team to every away game last season by bike - over 5,500 kilometres in total - and he raised over €16,000 euros in donations from Bayer 04, Nordkurve Karitativ e.V. and other supporters. The proceeds will benefit the animal therapy work at Haus Nazareth. Talking of bicycles: Bayer 04 also took part in the annual city cycle event together with TSV Bayer 04, employees, members and fans as the ‘BayerSportsFamily’ and secured an impressive fourth place in the overall Leverkusen rankings.

June: Inclusion under the Cross

The Bayer 04 highlight in June was not provided by the players, but by the inclusion team (the name was changed to Inklusionswerkself in July): For the Inclusion under the Cross tournament, twelve inclusive football clubs from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands came together at the BayArena for a special sporting experience and an inclusive exchange on the Bundesliga pitch. One of the referees on this day was also unusual - a young inmate from the Wuppertal-Ronsdorf prison, who Bayer 04 has already cooperated with in a wide variety of projects. The referee officiated several games at the inclusive tournament as part of the Sepp Herberger Foundation's "Kick-off for a new life" initiative. Once again, football knew no limits.

July: Inclusion and integration

For 15 years now, Bayer AG's ‘Simply Football’ project has been giving children and young people with disabilities access to football. Over the years, Bayer 04 has created a dedicated 25-strong team with five qualified coaches, which is now known as the inclusion team and it is an integral part of the club family.

As in April, Bayer 04 was once again involved in a project organised by the Football Club Social Alliance (FCSA). This time, Bayer 04 instructor Marius Schultens was among those helping to train 48 younf coaches in northern Uganda. The aim is to give the young coaches a perspective and, among other things, bring joy to the many children in the country who have fled from South Sudan through football activities. Schultens: "I believe the children who take part in the Young Coaches' training sessions in particular can forget their complicated living conditions for a while while they train and play together." In October of this year, Bayer 04 representative Malte Dresen also travelled to Uganda for the last training module. The main focus there was on topics such as child protection and promotion of peace.

The FCSA also organised a highlight in Switzerland together with Bayer 04 and other partner clubs. The annual special youth camp at the FC Basel campus offered around 50 children and young people with physical or intellectual disabilities an emotional experience both on and off the pitch through footballing activities, new friendships and a variety of leisure activities. Bayer 04 instructors were also present when the group attended a match of the Women's European Championship and organised their own mini ‘Special European Championships’.

August: Inclusion Werkself in the USA

The new Inclusion Werkself team gained a unique experience at the Genuine World Cup in the USA. In addition to great sporting experiences in matches against teams from all over the world, such as Athletic Bilbao from Spain or Club América from Mexico, the Leverkusen team also gained life experience off the pitch in a positive mix of freedom and support. A guided tour of NASA Space Centre in Houston preceded a visit to a Houston Astros baseball game. A visit from the German Consul General rounded off the Inclusion Werkself trip. "A formative life experience," said an enthusiastic coach Niclas Albers: "It's hard to put into words how proud you can be of these young adults."

A total of 154 Bayer 04 fans and employees took part in the annual blood donor camoaign at the BayArena - 28 of them for the first time ever. As a thank you, the donors received unique recycled washbags made from banners from the previous season as part of an inclusive project.

"Different clubs, united in purpose" was the motto at Bayer 04 and FC Köln in mid-August. The two clubs were honoured by the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister for Health, Labour and Social Affairs, Karl-Josef Laumann, for the football memory suitcase project for people with dementia. Once a month, the FC Köln and Leverkusen project teams bring a suitcase full of club memorabilia and a stadium atmosphere to the relevant facilities including the Schwadbud at the BayArena, working hand in hand in the fight against forgetting.

September: Black and Red environmental measures

September was all about environmental sustainability. The Black and Reds became the first German football club to have club sites certified independently in accordance with European EMAS environmental standards - an important step on the way to developing more environmentally friendly business operations. "This will help us [...] to continuously improve our environmental performance," said Dr Erik Schrödter, environmental management officer at Bayer 04. Further steps towards maximisation were the mobility surveys Bayer 04 carried out internally over the coming months including at two home matches involving the first team and the Bayer 04 Women among fans in order to minimise their environmental footprint. The current environmental performance - as well as the targets set - is published in the environmental statement on the Bayer 04 website and updated annually.

As part of the patronage of the Leverkusen BioBrotbox campaign, which was held at the beginning of May,Caroline Kehrer and Juliette Vidal from the Bayer 04 Women's team were joined by Ferdinand Pohl and Nils Gernhardt from the U19 squad as well as other club employees to help with the annual packing campaign. Lunch boxes for over 2,000 first-years in Leverkusen were filled with a healthy breakfast to encourage even the youngest children to have a healthy diet.

 

October: Health Weeks and Bayer 04-HILFT Day

The Bayer 04-HILFT Day - another fixture in the Back and Red sustainability calendar - was held at the Leverkusen City Library. More than 80 motivated Bayer 04 employees lent a hand in redesigning the interior and exterior of the library, wallpapering, labouring and sorting. Later, Werkself coaching staff team and the players Christian Kofane and Ezequiel Fernández joined them. Valentina Mädl, Juliette Vidal, Anne Moll and Shen Menglu from the Bayer 04 Women's team also lent a helping hand.

Bayer 04 once again dedicated the remainder of October to the Health Weeks. This year's focus: the topic of organ donation. Fans of the Werkself were not only able to get their own personalised organ donation tattoo free of charge, but also secure their own donors card with the Bayer 04 logo. Other health issues were not neglected either, thanks to first aid courses for the "Inklusionswerkself" and some fan clubs as well as special campaigns at first team and Bayer 04 Women home games.

November: Week of action against violence against women and girls

Orange was the colour of choice in the last week of November. Bayer 04 quickly turned Orange Day, the international day against violence against women and girls, into an entire week. In a video, the Werkself players Jonas Hofmann, Mark Flekken, Jarell Quansah, Nathan Tella and Aleix Garcia and managing director sport  Simon Rolfes called for greater awareness of the issue. The same objective was pursued by campaigns such as an orange seating at the BayArena and a half-time talk with Ursula Sautter, Deputy Chairwoman of the UN Women Executive Board, during the Werkself home match against Borussia Dortmund (1-2).

Bayer 04's first environmental statement has now been followed by the detailed carbon footprints for 2023 and 2024, which show the emissions from the club's various business activities. In addition to providing a good overall picture, the footprints also offer the opportunity to identify potential for improvement in order to further advance activities in the area of environmental sustainability.

For the third time, the Black and Reds supported the training of young coaches with the Football Club Social Alliance (FCSA) - once again in Ecuador. Bayer 04 instructor Benjamin Seifert showed the young coaches ways to sensitise children and young people to social problems through football. The module focussed in particular on the involvement of girls and topics such as pregnancy in adolescence and gender-specific violence. As usual, all participants were able to apply what they had learnt directly at a final festival with 200 children from the region - around half of whom were female.

December: Festival of friends - from Tafel to Sterntaler

The year ended the same way it began with a thank you to volunteers. After the previous Day of volunteering at the  BayArena, Bayer 04 Sportförderung gGmbH presented the Volunteering Awards for the 19th time with prize money totalling €15,000. At half-time in the home match against FC Köln (2-0), TuS Roland Bürrig 1887 e.V. and SV Oppum 1910 e.V. were delighted to receive the award. Fernando Carro, among others, expressed his thanks on behalf of Bayer 04 for the extraordinary commitment of the award winners and all those involved in volunteering in the region.

As always, however, the fiiting finale to sustainability in 2025 was the Friends' Party. It kicked off with the annual gift wrapping for children and senior citizens as part of the "Sterntaler" campaign, with Jonas Hofmann, Malik Tillman and Niklas Lomb, among others, lending a hand. The gifts were financed by the club's teams and employees. The event continued with a great deal of commitment to the Leverkusen food bank, with which Bayer 04 has an intensive and long-standing partnership. After the U19s handed overa large donation of food and money from their own team funds, the Werkself fans did the same: a collection at the home match against Borussia Dortmund (1-2) raised over a tonne of food and over €1,700 for the food bank.

In addition, a Bayer 04 delegation accompanied the preparation and distribution of the Tafel Christmas parcels. Bayer 04 supported the Tafel on a particularly large scale on the occasion of its 25th anniversary and - in keeping with Christmas - made a donation of an additional €2,500. The event concluded with a donation of Christmas gifts to the clients of the 'Kältegang' homeless charity. Bayer 04 employees packed the bags with sweets and essential items for life on the street. "Thank you for thinking of us and not looking away," said one of the people receiving the support as the bags were handed out.

Bayer 04 will not look the other way in 2026 and will continue to be intensively involved in community and environmental issues.