ACCIONA attains 1,200 corporate volunteers

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Today ACCIONA is celebrating the International Volunteer Day 2014, with 1,200 participants in its Corporate Volunteer Programme, which was rolled out by the company three years ago to enable its employees to participate in initiatives set out in the Social Action Plan and defined in the Sustainability Master Plan 2015 to promote a culture of collaboration and solidarity which raises the workforce's awareness about the needs of other groups within society. ACCIONA's Volunteer Programme includes initiatives to promote sustainability, help disadvantaged groups, and improve the employability of young people. ACCIONA volunteers have completed more than 15,000 hours of community service.

Projects include Light at Home Programme, organized by the ACCIONA Microenergy Foundation, which uses solar home systems to provide electricity in isolated rural communities in Peru and Mexico which cannot connect to the grid using traditional methods. A total of 140 employees are actively participating on this initiative, of which 30 have financed their own trips to Oaxaca (Mexico) or Cajamarca (Peru) to collaborate on the ground with the Foundation. The remainder are involved in management and logistics and in raising awareness at their work centres, volunteering 4 hours a week on average.

Another initiative is ACCIONA's Volunteer Day which, in the three years since it was created, has inspired more than 900 of the company's employees to give sustainability workshops to close to 18,000 children aged 7 to 11, in 11 countries, with a view to teaching them about climate change, efficient use of water and energy, etc.

Another annual event in which ACCIONA's corporate volunteers participate is Let's Donate!, a campaign to collect food for the Food Bank, and toys, baby food and school materials for the Spanish Red Cross. The third edition of this initiative was held this year: in just three days, ACCIONA employees collected 3,500 kilograms of food for food banks and around 70 boxes of new toys, baby food and school materials for the Spanish Red Cross. ACCIONA matched its employees' food and toy donations. In the last three editions of this initiative, 14 tonnes of food were collected and several of the company's departments participated, including more than 110 volunteers who helped with the campaign's organisation and logistics in ACCIONA's various offices, which included collection, classification and packaging donations. 

Employees also help young people improve their employability by participating in programmes such as the Junior Achievement Foundation's

"Partners for a day", which aims to help high school and trade school students (15-18 years old) acquire a better understanding of different roles within a company and help them chose a career path. Students spend a day with ACCIONA volunteers, who show them their day-to-day.

Additionally, with a view to improving young people's employability, ACCIONA participates in the Prince of Girona Foundation's Mentoring Talent programme, through which 51 ACCIONA volunteers acted as mentors in the last year to university graduates from difficult backgrounds, the goal being to ensure equal opportunities in accessing the labour market.

Other corporate volunteer initiatives include sponsored runs, in which ACCIONA employees have raised funds for projects aimed at the social integration of people with disabilities.