- The ‘Bentayga Project’, winner of a 2025 Social Value Award, offers training and ongoing support to volunteers to improve their skills and their capacity to respond to situations of vulnerability
Fundación Moeve's representative in the Canary Islands, Belén Machado, and Jorge de Castro, a Moeve professional and solidarity sponsor of the winning project, visited Cáritas' headquarters in Gran Canaria, where they were received by the organization's provincial director, Gonzalo Marrero, along with part of the technical team and a member of the "Volunteer Care Committee." During the visit, in addition to learning about some of the organization's resources, they inquired about the project's progress and the various initiatives being carried out to support volunteers throughout their time at Cáritas.
The award-winning project, which received a €25,000 grant from fundación Moeve, focuses on the more than one thousand volunteers Cáritas has in the province of Las Palmas. It stems from the importance of caring for those who dedicate their time to helping others, providing them with tools, training, and spaces for listening that help improve their experience as volunteers while also strengthening the organization’s response capacity.
During the visit, Belén Machado noted that “when we talk about social action, we often focus on the people receiving support, but behind every act of accompaniment there are also people giving their time, knowledge, and commitment. This program provides solid tools, shared criteria, and comprehensive, ongoing support for volunteers. Caring for them and for their capacity to respond is key to transforming situations of exclusion.”
For his part, Gonzalo Marrero thanked fundación Moeve for its support and emphasized the importance of having resources available to properly support volunteers. “Volunteering is the driving force behind Cáritas, and we need to care for those who make it possible. This project allows us to create spaces for training, listening, and participation, better address their needs, and continue building a culture of care within the organization in order to strengthen our social action on behalf of the most vulnerable people in the Canary Islands,” he said.
Supporting those who support others
The ‘Bentayga Project’ lays out a support pathway that begins when volunteers join Cáritas and continues throughout the different stages of their involvement with the organization, taking into account their individual profile and the social reality they work with.
Its main lines of action include welcoming and onboarding new volunteers, ongoing training, support during their volunteer work, the creation of spaces for dialogue and reflection, and attentive care during the process of stepping away from volunteering. The project also works to diversify volunteer profiles and adapt forms of participation to new social realities and needs.
The initiative also incorporates a gender perspective as a cross-cutting focus and promotes a culture of care by fostering meaningful spaces for dialogue, as a foundation for committed participation, where volunteers can share experiences, identify needs, and reflect on their work. To this end, a working group called “Latidos con Alma” (“Heartbeats with Soul”) has been created, made up of seven volunteers and three staff members, with the goal of fostering a culture of care for volunteers.
A volunteer network in the service of others
The project also aims to improve internal coordination and networked collaboration, fostering cooperation among the organization's different teams and areas of participation. In addition, it seeks to adapt volunteer participation to the changes society is undergoing, opening new avenues that allow more people to get involved in Cáritas' social action while maintaining close, high-quality care.
The work carried out through the 'Bentayga Project' has an impact that extends beyond the volunteers themselves, since their training, support, and well-being directly affect the quality of care Cáritas provides to individuals and families facing the greatest vulnerability.
About the Social Value Awards
Fundación Moeve’s Social Value Awards were established in 2005 with the goal of supporting organizations working with vulnerable groups in the areas where Moeve operates. In the Canary Islands, these awards have supported 80 social projects to date, with total funding of €862,000.
In the 2025 edition, Cáritas Diocesana de Canarias, Fundación Sonsoles Soriano, and CEAR Canarias were the three organizations recognized in the archipelago, with total funding of €75,000 to carry out their initiatives throughout the year.
The 2026 call for applications will be open from September 1 to 18.
