The donation that the financial organisation, official club sponsor since 2013, makes through ‘la Caixa’, will be put towards the charity project in which the teams in the Yellows Academy and charities across the province of Castellón participate

CaixaBank will once more collaborate with Villarreal CF’s charity projects for the 2019/20 season, this time supporting the Endavant Igualtat initiative, where the Yellows Academy 11-a-side teams collaborate with charity centre in the province of Castellón. Including this, there are now four campaigns in which CaixaBank, through La Caixa, collaborates with the club.

The initiative was supported with an agreement signed this afternoon at the Estadio de la Cerámica, with the attendance of Villarreal CF president Fernando Roig; Caixabank’s territorial director for the Comunidad Valencia, Xicu Costa; and representatives from the CAU, AFA and Down Castellón centres, all of which participate in Endavant Igualtat.

Villarreal’s psychology and methodology departments launched the Endavant Igualtat during the 2015/16 season, supporting education and the personal development of the footballers with a clear objective: to help the members of the centres in their personal development, with a social sensitivity along with the needs and difficulties of the others, and to share their experiences with them. This exchange of values favours the growth of both parties.

The initiative consists of organising community activities throughout the season, with periodic meetings both in the association centres as well as in the Villarreal CF facilities. To the best of their abilities, the members of the centres will go to games and support their teams at the Villarreal CF Training Ground (Ciudad Deportiva).

CaixaBank, a socially responsible bank

The Social Area is one of the pillars of the CaixaBank Corporate Social Responsibility Plan (CSR) within its socially responsible banking model. Thanks to their territorial capillarity, CaixaBank’s network of offices supports the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation in its social work, detecting local needs and channeling a part of its social investment. The collaboration between both institutions makes it possible for thousands of entities and associations to access the aid of the “la Caixa” Social Work each year. This social action is intended to promote small-scale but large-scale projects in the territories in which CaixaBank operates. Last year, more than 11,500 projects were promoted with an investment of 43.6 million euros.

This section includes the distribution of the financial contributions of the Banking Foundation through the offices of CaixaBank, as well as other actions related to volunteering, housing and charity projects; and, it also contemplates Financial Inclusion, the section in which the concession of microcredits and informative actions of financial culture, among others, are included.

CaixaBank is an organisation with a deeply social vocation. As a result of the inheritance that it has received, the organisation maintains an attitude of service to society and its customers. That is why it has a commitment to financial inclusion and is the only organisation present in 100% of populations with more than 10,000 inhabitants and in 94% of those with more than 5,000. It is also the only organisation that offers microcredits to people without guarantees, through MicroBank, to help them boost their personal and professional projects. It maintains a commitment to financial culture through multiple initiatives, to help people make better decisions in managing their economy. And 46% of its workforce participates in volunteer work during social weeks and the rest of the year.

CaixaBank stands out for its responsible nature and this is recognised by the main international organisations. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index global sustainability index places it among the best banks in the world in terms of corporate responsibility. The international organisation CDP, for its part, includes it as a leading company in terms of being anti climate change.

Social work, the soul of ‘La Caixa’

‘La Caixa’ social work involves several initiatives aimed at covering different charities and social problems, such as preventing drug consumption, access to accommodation, promoting diversity and multiculturalism as a positive social value, conceding microcredits, promoting volunteering or international co-operation. These aims, alongside supporting education and research, conserving the environment and spreading culture as social cohesion, are all parts of La Caixa.

The ‘La Caixa’ foundation, presided over by Isidro Fainé and run by Jaume Giró, has increased its social work budget this year, which is now at 545,000,000 Euros. This number puts them as the largest private foundation in Spain, and one of the most important in the world.

Carrying out social programmes focused on current challenges, such as unemployment, fight against exclusion and access to accommodation, is a large part of the programme. A total of 59% of the budget goes to developing social programmes, 23% is for promoting culture and education, and 18% is for research.