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Aspercan, Bancoteide, Envera, Apaelp and Probosco are the winners of this year’s edition
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Awards were handed out for projects working to tackle physical and intellectual disabilities, poverty and social exclusion
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Fundación Cepsa announced the results of its 2017 Social Value awards in the Canary Islands at a meeting of the jury held at the Tenerife Refinery today. The winners Asociación Asperger Islas Canarias (Aspercan) [Canary Islands Asperger Association], the Tenerife Food Bank (Bancoteide), Asociación de Empleados de Iberia Padres de Personas con Discapacidad (Envira) [an association supporting the staff of Iberia Airways with disabled children], Asociación de Padres de Alumnos con Discapacidad en Aulas Enclave de la Provincia de Las Palmas [an association for the parents of disabled children in special education units in Las Palmas province], and Asociación de Proyectos de Acción Social Don Bosco [Don Bosco Association for Social Action] were chosen from among the 58 organizations taking part in this year’s charity competition. The government of the Canary Islands’ councillor for Employment, Social Policies and Housing, Cristina Valido, and commune councilor, Jerónimo Saavedra, co-chaired the jury, which also comprised: the Tenerife Island Council’s councilor for Social Action, Coromoto Yanes; Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council’s councilor for Social Affairs, Óscar García; Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council’s councilor for Social Cohesion and Young People, Jacinto Ortega; the head of Programa Tenerife Solidario [Tenerife Charity Program], Beatriz Sicilia; and Cepsa’s director for the Canary Islands, José Manuel Fernández-Sabugo.
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The votes of all members of the jury were counted to select the five winners of this year’s edition, who will receive part of the €50,000 prize pot set aside for the Canary Islands.
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Winning projects
The Patios dinámicos [Dynamic Playgrounds] project run by the Canary Islands Asperger Association (Aspercan) works to effectively integrate pupils with Asperger’s Syndrome into schools through measures designed to raise awareness of them in the community, creating playground spaces where the children can learn to play and build social relationships with other kids.The Tenerife Food Bank (Bancoteide) will deliver more food to the most disadvantaged children through its Lucha contra la pobreza infantil [Tackling child poverty] project. The food bank’s goal is to help children registered with 117 charities across Santa Cruz de Tenerife province.
Meanwhile, Asociación de Empleados de Iberia Padres de Personas con Discapacidad (Envera) will launch Envera Coworking: the first co-working space to help disabled people find a foothold in the labor market. Thanks to the prize money from Fundación Cepsa, this association will set up a social space for unemployed differently-abled people to receive training (help with reading and writing and IT skills), information and support in their search for work in the digital space.
Asociación de Padres de Alumnos con Discapacidad en Aulas Enclave de la Provincia de Las Palmas (Apaelp) will use the prize money to establish an individualized comprehensive care and caregiver support service for families with kids needing a lot of support. The objective is to give them some respite from the daily demands of caregiving, as well as help during extremely difficult periods. By offering care for the carer, the association aims to reduce family stress and make home life easier.
Lastly, Asociación de Proyectos de Acción Social Don Bosco (Probosco) will provide tablets and digital whiteboards to disabled people who find it difficult to communicate, as part of its “Alternative and augmentative communication technologies” proposal. The goal is to provide these individuals with the help needed to communicate, understand how the medium works, and express their basic needs and emotions.
Candidates in the Canary Islands for the Employees’ Special Award
The jury also chose two other projects as candidates for the Employees’ Special Award: an additional prize given by Cepsa’s own staff. This year, the projects submitted by Asociación Tinerfeña de Trisómicos 21 [an association supporting individuals with chromosomal disorders] and Asociación de Reinserción Social de Menores Anchieta [working to help young people to regain a foothold in society] were selected.
Cepsa staff will choose three winners for this award from among the 14 candidates (two for each area in which the awards are held in Spain, Portugal, Colombia and Brazil), which will receive part of the €30,000 prize pot to get their initiatives off the ground. The results will be announced in December.