These awards recognize the work of 12 NGOs in the categories of international cooperation, disability, social inclusion and health. They will all receive an economic contribution funded with donations from Santander’s own employees in Spain.

Banco Santander invested €13 million in social action initiatives and support for vulnerable groups in Spain in 2021.

The bank accords special recognition to five social entities with which it has worked in particular throughout 2022 in areas such as support for refugees and the fight against cancer: the Red Cross, UNHCR, CEAR, AECC and the ONCE Foundation.

Madrid, 27 September 2022.
This morning, HM Queen Letizia, along with the executive chairman of Banco Santander, Ana Botín, presided a ceremony at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, to present the awards of the 14th edition of the bank’s Euros From Your Salary programme to the 12 social projects chosen by employees in Spain.

Euros From Your Salary is one of Santander’s most important initiatives for the thousands of employees committed to social causes and to supporting the NGOs that work every day to help the most vulnerable groups. Almost 200 associations presented their projects in this new edition, with 32 finalists and 12 winning projects which received €44,759 each from the Euros From Your Salary fund.

This fund is financed by donations from the employees participating in the programme and by the bank’s contribution, which doubles the amount donated by the employees. In this edition, a total of €537,114 was raised, bringing to €4.6 million the total distributed among the 122 NGOs which have benefited from the initiative since the bank launched it 14 years ago. This has already had a positive impact on the lives of some 900,000 people.

Her Majesty the Queen highlighted that “Civil society in our country is strong, supportive and powerful in many areas: welfare, care, support, defence of those who lack recognized rights, or whose rights are being violated, or are in situations of distress, vulnerability, loneliness, or suffering.”

Ana Botín, executive chairman of Banco Santander, thanked the Queen for her participation and the commitment she had always shown to social causes, and she congratulated the NGOs on their work: “With your efforts and professionalism, you transform the lives of thousands of people for the better. If there is one thing that makes me get up each day with enthusiasm, it is the ability of our work to impact the lives of many people. You help us multiply that impact, your work is a source of inspiration.”

Winning projects

The winners have been selected in four categories: international cooperation, disability, social inclusion and health.

In international cooperation, the award goes to the Kirira Foundation, whose winning project will build a classroom for girls in Tharaka, in order to improve their quality of life, as they are forced to flee from their homes to avoid female genital mutilation; the Recover Foundation, which will build and equip a maternity unit at the Obout health centre in Cameroon, serving more than 4,000 beneficiaries per year; and the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, whose project will focus on building adequate housing with sanitary facilities for 19 disadvantaged families in the village of Kadadarakunta, located in Anantapur, India.

In the disability section, the winners are Aprocor Foundation, which will implement personal plans for 50 people with intellectual disabilities and mobilize 250 volunteers to assist with the project; Autismo Burgos, whose project will provide families with psychological and emotional support from professionals to help prevent social isolation; and Apadis, which will adapt residences for 96 people with intellectual disabilities and severe conduct disorders so that they can live together in an environment similar to a household.

In social inclusion, the award-winning organizations are APRAMP, which will provide 300 women who are victims of trafficking with a help line and support in their day-to-day activities and in crisis situations, as well as in their recovery and rehabilitation; the Rafa Nadal Foundation, which will carry out a social integration project for vulnerable children in situations of social exclusion through sport and education; and Achalay, an organization that will develop a programme of out-of-school training activities for at least 25 young people in the San Blas neighbourhood, with the aim of breaking the cycles of poverty and inequality to achieve a reduction in the school drop-out rate and improve their employability profiles.

In the health category, the winners are: Mamás en acción, for a project that aims to cover 100% of the support that hospitals request for children who have no parents or cannot live with them or are victims of domestic abuse; Menudos Corazones which, thanks to this contribution, will provide double rooms free of charge for families who have to travel to Madrid to be with their child while they undergo heart surgery; and Fundación d’oncologia infantil Enriqueta Villavecchia, which will provide medical and psychological care in the hospital and at home to children who are in chronic or advanced stages of their disease or close to the end of their lives and will provide support to their families.

Special awards

This year, in addition to recognizing the 12 winners of the competition, special recognition has been accorded to the work of the five social entities with which the bank has cooperated most throughout the year: the Spanish Association against Cancer, the ONCE Foundation, the Red Cross, UNHCR and CEAR.

The campaign organized by Santander at the Shareholders’ Meeting enabled the bank to donate two euros to the Spanish Association against Cancer and the ONCE Foundation for every vote cast. With this contribution, these NGOs have helped people who endured particular hardship during their cancer treatment and 15 scholarships were awarded to promote the digital skills of people with disabilities.

The collaboration between Santander and the Red Cross, UNHCR and CEAR (the Spanish refugee commission) has enabled actions to be carried out to support the Ukrainian people since the start of the Russian invasion. One of the main initiatives was to host 200 refugees in the El Solaruco residence, within the Santander Group City located in Boadilla del Monte, pending their final placement in Spain through the reception network of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. During this period, some children were able to resume the cancer treatment which they had been forced to interrupt due to the war. Moreover, during this period, 300 of the Group’s employees carried out various integration activities, such as Spanish classes, yoga, piano concerts, excursions such as a visit to the Madrid zoo and shows for the children.

The importance of social investment

Banco Santander remains committed to the progress of people and society through its support for hundreds of social projects in all the countries in which it is present, having a clearly positive impact on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In 2021, Santander Group allocated €46 million to community support initiatives through 1,400 NGOs, helping over two million people. In Spain, the bank allocated €13 million for these purposes, always focusing on the most vulnerable groups and those at risk of social exclusion.

In addition to this financial support, the 46,000 hours of volunteering by more than 28,000 Santander employees are dedicated to helping groups such as people with disabilities, alleviating the loneliness of the elderly, and providing training to those who need it most.

In addition, Santander, through Santander Universities, has helped almost 30,000 people in Spain through scholarships, internships and entrepreneurship programmes. And through the Universia Foundation, it has supported more than 1,500 students with disabilities.

In Spain, the third sector generates more than half a million jobs and accounts for 1.4% of national GDP, which is invested in social action projects.