Music captivates us, inspires us, brings us together and moves us. Santander uses the transformational power of music to help develop communities. This is the purpose of the “O Canal é Seu festival, a 12-hour marathon of music we hosted in Brazil for the Mães da Favela project, which is run by the Central Única das Favelas (CUFA) organisation and helps more than 26,000 Brazilian mothers.

12 hours on the radio and TV: That was the O Canal é Seu festival run by Santander Brazil and the non-profit organisation CUFA to raise BRL 3.6 million (over half a million euros). As our bank had matched donations, this event raised nearly BRL 7.2 million (over one million euros) for some 26,000 women of the ‘Mães da Favela’ initiative and their families in poor communities across Brazil.

The Brazilian not-for-profit runs this social project in more than 5,000 marginalised neighbourhoods, where around half the households are headed by women, many of whom are entrepreneurs whose businesses have suffered serious hardship due to the covid-19 pandemic.

To help relieve coronavirus’ economic impact on vulnerable families in these neighbourhoods, more than 60 of Santander Brazil’s corporate customers supported this event, which featured 17 performances in 12 hours.
 

The largest Santander Week of all time 

The O Canal é Seu festival was part of what we can call the largest Santander Week in our history in Brazil. Every year since 2007, we have celebrated Santander Week worldwide; it is a moment to bring the group’s culture to life, show solidarity and enjoy multiple activities with colleagues.

During Santander Week in Brazil, our top managers met customers at branches and brought out their teams to support the CUFA organisation and the O Canal é Seu festival. Santander staff also visited four hospitals we’ve been supporting during the pandemic, where they learnt first-hand about their ongoing initiatives, such as a drive of basic products for the people who need them most. Furthermore, they witnessed the Heroes Wear Masks programme, which has donated millions of face masks around Brazil. Through these initiatives, we put our purpose of helping people and businesses prosper into action.