Bankia S A : invests 800,000 euros in social and environmental action programmes by Fundación Bancaja in Comunidad Valenciana

• The agreement has been signed by the chairman of the Fundación Bancaja, Rafael Alcón; the corporate director of Bankia in Valencia and Castellón, Jaime Casas; and the coordinator of the Communication and External Relations Division of Bankia in Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia, Isabel Rubio
• The agreement includes the launching of three annual calls for grants for associations in Comunidad Valenciana: the 'Convocatoria Coopera ONG' call, the 'Convocatoria Capaces' call and the 'Convocatoria Medioambiental' call
• Since the start of the collaboration, both entities have promoted 410 projects for non-profit associations in Comunidad Valenciana that work in the fields of social exclusion, development cooperation, the environment and the integration of people with functional diversity

Bankia will allocate 800,000 euros to Fundación Bancaja in 2021 to promote social and environmental action projects in Alicante, Castellón and Valencia over the next year.

This is part of the collaboration agreement that has been signed at the headquarters of the Fundación Bancaja by the chairman of the Fundación Bancaja, Rafael Alcón; the corporate director of Bankia in Valencia and Castellón, Jaime Casas; and the coordinator of the Communication and External Relations Division of Bankia in Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia, Isabel Rubio. The event was also attended by the manager of the Fundación Bancaja, Irene Guasque.

The beneficiaries will be associations that work to protect the environment, support vulnerable groups and encourage people with functional diversity, addictions, homeless people, immigrants, families without resources, children, long-term unemployed people and prisoners and former prisoners, among others.

During the meeting, the chairman of the Fundación Bancaja thanked Bankia for its support and highlighted 'the importance of joining forces in favour of a society that has more equal opportunities and tools that drive innovation, sustainability and progress in social and environmental matters, especially at a time like the one we are currently experiencing, in which the pandemic has highlighted the importance of supporting initiatives that promote improvements and progress in our immediate environment''.

For his part, the corporate manager of Bankia in Valencia and Castellón stressed that 'the signing of this agreement with the Fundación Bancaja is proof of our undoubted commitment to Valencian society, our own, and, especially, to all groups that now, more than ever, need it'. 'We are very proud to be responding to a fundamental part of the challenges we have as a society', said Casas.

In this regard, the coordinator of the Communication and External Relations Division of Bankia stressed that 'during these years, we have managed to consolidate and grow calls that are key to third sector entities, such as 'Coopera' and 'Capaces' and, at the same time, we have launched an 'Medioambiental' call, which will also continue in 2021'.

Calls and workshops

The grants will be allocated in three annual calls from which associations of Comunidad Valenciana will be able to benefit: the 'Coopera ONG' call, aimed at projects developed in the field of social exclusion and international cooperation; the 'Capaces' call, aimed at fostering the social and occupational integration of people with disabilities; and the 'Medioambiente' call, aimed at programmes for the protection of biodiversity, the promotion of circular economy and environmental innovation.

In addition, the agreement also includes financial collaboration from Bankia in educational workshops aimed at people with functional diversity and vulnerable groups that are carried out at the Fundación Bancaja, as well as in the development of D-Capacidad Week, a social awareness initiative that takes place every year for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities with the aim of raising awareness of the need for the integration of this group.

This agreement is a continuation of the joint work that both entities carry out on social and environmental action in Comunidad Valenciana. Since this collaboration began, Bankia has allocated almost 5 million euros to the Fundación Bancaja projects, which have benefited the projects carried out by 410 non-profit organisations in Comunidad Valenciana. Bankia's contribution to the social and environmental programmes of the Fundación Bancaja has increased by 113% since it began.