Representatives from CODESPA,
Ojos del Mundo,
Menudos Corazones and the Ángel Tomás Foundation explained the projects to be jointly funded by staff and the company through the
Juntos Sumamos (Stronger Together) programme.
In September 2017, Ferrovial launched a call for new proposals for another edition of its social programme
Juntos Sumamos, through which both company and staff select a number of development projects for funding. The budget for such projects comes from donations made by staff through payroll giving, plus an amount donated by the company to match employee funds, in effect doubling the volume of such funds.
On 6 March 2018, the company announced the winning projects and signed the relevant agreementswith the four NGOs selected in this new edition: CODESPA,
Menudos Corazones,
Ojos del Mundo and the Ángel Tomás Foundation. Present at the event were Ferrovial’s Director for Communications and Corporate Responsibility,
Francisco Polo, and HR Manager
María Dionis. Representatives from the selected NGOs were also present and gave a brief explanation of their respective projects:
José Ignacio González-Aller, General Manager for the CODESPA Foundation;
María Escudero, Chair of
Menudos Corazones;
Nuria Ramón, General Manager of
Ojos del Mundo; and
Ignacio Beltrán, General Manager of the Ángel Tomás Foundation.
Staff donors who attended the event were able to talk with the NGO representatives to learn about their projects and the work carried out by these organisations.
In this 2017 edition,
Ferrovial and its staff have raised a total of 107,804 Euros. This amount will fully fund initiatives by the CODESPA Foundation (35,000 Euros) and Menudos Corazones (50,000 Euros), while the Ojos del Mundo project and the Ángel Tomás solidarity initiative will be partially funded with the remaining amount (receiving 11,402 Euros each). Funds will be spent in 2018.
The winning projects
International development projects
Programme for integrated support to women and youth suffering sexual violence in the armed conflict areas of Goma and North Kivu - CODESPA Foundation
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 77% of the population lives on less than a dollar per day. Goma, the capital, is the epicentre of one of the longest-running armed conflicts in Africa due to the fighting amongst different ethnic groups and its coltan reserves. Added to this, according to CODESPA´s General Manager José Ignacio González-Aller, the city is also known as
‘the capital of rape’, with more than 1000 incidences of sexual abuse reported every month.
In this context,
the CODESPA foundation opened the Margarita Hostel in North Kivu, a care centre where women and young people victims of sexual violence are provided with psychological and social and financial support to help them back to a life of dignity. Ana María is one of such young persons: a victim of a sexual aggression, she is now living in the hostel, where she will receive training as a seamstress and a micro loan of 100 Euros to help her on the path to a new life. Thanks to Ferrovial and donations from its staff,
200 women and young persons such as Ana María, and over 1000 family members, will be able to address their past suffering and weave a new life for themselves.
Learn more about this project here.
A future free from shadows: preventing blindness in children - Ojos del Mundo
In Mali’s Mopti region,
42% of school-aged children suffer eye diseases and problems with their vision which could be prevented with proper check-ups and treatment. Sight problems make many of these children drop out of school every year, which in turn makes them more vulnerable for the future.
In order to make it possible for many of these children to come out of the darkness and into the light, thus enabling them to receive a proper education, the
Ojos del Mundo foundation in Mali, with the help of Ferrovial and donations from its staff, will carry out
eye tests on 5,500 students from 60 schools in the Mopti region, and provide glasses free of charge to those who need them, as well as technical equipment and specific training to the local population. “Together we will eradicate poverty, by looking into its eyes and helping those who are most vulnerable,” said Nuria Ramón, General Director of the foundation.
Learn more about this project here.
Social projects in Spain
Just like home: Refurbishment of a building for accommodating the families of children staying in hospital due to congenital heart disease, organ failure or multi-organ transplant - Menudos Corazones
Every year in Spain 4,000 children are born with congenital heart disease, the most common and serious of congenital diseases. Close to 80% of such children are operated in their first year of life, and 70% in the first three months. These operations are carried out in specialist hospitals, most of which are located in Madrid. Many of the children to be treated, however, are not from Madrid.
In 2003, one of these affected families travelled from Ciudad Real to Madrid. While their son received treatment in the Gregorio Marañón hospital, the parents slept in their taxi, according to María Escudero, Chair of the Menudos Corazones foundation. And so the foundation was established to avoid other families going through the same hardship. A small three-bedroom flat was set up, one room serving as the office and the other two as accommodation for families. Today, with the help of Ferrovial and donations from its staff, an
unused building provided by the Association of Spanish Footballers close to the La Paz hospitalwill be refurbished to accommodate up to eight people in double rooms with shared public spaces, thus helping
200 people directly and a further 400 indirectly.
Learn more about this project here.
Upgrading of the ‘Domingo Savio’ catering training centre for young persons at risk of social exclusion - Angel Tomás Foundation
On the day these young persons turn 18, they have to pack their bags and leave the sheltered accommodation in which they live to start out alone. Many of them, however, need help to access the labour market and have a decent quality of life, according to Ignacio Beltrán, General Director of the Ángel Tomás Foundation.
Thanks to Ferrovial and donations from Ferrovial staff, the association will upgrade and refurbish the old parish centre belonging to the Salesian community of San Antonio Abadin Valencia, turning it into a
cookery school and dining hall for 130 young persons and adolescents.There, they will be able to undergo professional training which will allow them into employment once they become of age.It is expected that the project will also benefit
3.357 persons indirectly.
Learn more about this project here.
About the Juntos Sumamos programme
Through the Juntos Sumamos programme, which was established in 2005, the company and its staff every year provide funding for different initiatives aimed at improving living conditions for people at risk of social exclusion. To date, the programme has raised over one million Euros, with 12% of all staff being donors
