Ewa and Justyna met at an orphanage. They love singing. They learned to play the guitar at a rock camp. By playing together in public these socially vulnerable girls were able to integrate socially and boost their self-esteem.

In the Citizens for Democracy programme:
- 412 women and girls attended WenDo assertiveness and self-defence workshops;
- 20 initiatives were launched to combat violence against women.

Adela has retired and has been looking for ideas of how to spend her free time. She has recently learned about this new opportunity for seniors in her community. She now goes swimming in the local pool and attends third age university classes. She enjoys an integrated medical and welfare care programme sponsored by the municipality. This means all the professionals who take care of her are constantly co-ordinating their efforts.

In the Citizens for Democracy programme:
- 13 senior councils engaged in designing senior-friendly facilities, civic education, needs assessment and building senior clubs;
- 1 731 seniors received mental, legal and/or welfare support.

Helena likes her garden very much. She makes delicious fruit and vegetable preserves every year. Recently, she has felt rather unwell and has not been strong enough to take care of her plant beds. She learned from a friend about the time bank where you can exchange your time and skills for services of other timebanking persons. She has approached Krzysiek and Piotr and they have happily agreed to take care of her garden. In return, Helena makes preserves for them.

In the Citizens for Democracy programme:
- 1 301 individuals were involved in self-help and self-organising activities in their local community.

Helena and Lucyna spent a year taking daily walks in a large forest counting endangered plant and wildlife species. They wrote a report and sent it to nature conservation authorities.

In the Citizens for Democracy programme:
- non-government organisations developed 114 nature conservation reports. This resulted in the extension of close protection areas in three national parks;
- over 1 000 field observations of endangered species and natural heritage sites were conducted.

Artur wants to write his will but his health is so poor that he cannot go to the nearest help-desk. He decided to use a mobile legal and civic help-desk. He made an appointment by phone and was later visited by a counsellor at his home. The counsellor helped solve the problem.

In the Citizens for Democracy programme:
- 19 387 individuals used legal and civic advice (including mobile and remote).

Jan was supposed to fly to his holiday destination. However, his flight was cancelled and he was not assisted by the airline in any way. He lodged a complaint but received no reply. He sued the airline. A consumer organisation gave him support, the case was mediated and settled.

In the Citizens for Democracy programme:
- consumer organisations reviewed over 1 500 complaints;
- mediation was launched in over 60 cases of disputes between consumers and service providers.

Agata and Magda as well Jacek and Adam have noticed that the rights and status of non-heterosexual individuals have become an increasingly hot topic in recent years. They feel their issues are important to someone at last. The public debate is now addressing topics that have been largely ignored, e.g. single sex marriages and the social and legal status of LGBT families.

In the Citizens for Democracy programme:
- 16 initiatives were implemented and fully focused on combatting discrimination against non-heterosexual individuals.