The head of Corporate Relations of Cepsa in Andalusia and the Canary Islands, Jesús Manuel Velasco, and his counterpart at the Cepsa Foundation in the Canary Islands, Belén Machado, yesterday made a balance, through a virtual meeting, of the activities developed in the Archipelago throughout 2020.
The oil company Cepsa has been supplying the Canary Islands for 91 years, and in this time it has developed numerous social actions unrelated to the corporate ones. In 2016, the Cepsa Foundation was born, a non-profit general interest entity through which the needs and priorities of society are channeled.
With the aim of reinforcing the company’s social commitment, last year almost 40 social, scientific-educational, environmental, cultural and sports projects were promoted, benefiting 16,250 canaries directly and around 47,700 indirectly.
The decline of the pandemic
The outbreak of the current health crisis prevented numerous activities and scheduled events from being carried out, But the entity quickly reoriented its actions to adapt to the new panorama and continue helping the most vulnerable groups of the Islands. Jesús Velasco pointed out that “the Foundation has adapted to the needs of the Archipelago in the spaces left by the pandemic”, resulting in 40 projects divided into five areas of action, to which he adds “the objective is not to have many projects, we seek to do what benefits people who need help ”.
With regard to social support, the Awards for Social Value stand out, which economically promote solidarity projects. In 2020, the amount of the award was increased by 25%, providing 60,000 euros to the beneficiaries in the Canary Islands, which were the Afedes Association, the Canary Islands Asperger Association (AsperCan), the Tenerife Breast Cancer Association (Amate), the Mental Health Association (Atelsam) and the Canarian Foundation for People with Deafness and their Families (Funcasor).
Belén Machado emphasized that since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, the Foundation has managed to donate 117,000 euros to the Food Banks of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, in addition to fuel cards to guarantee the distribution of food. The Government of the Canary Islands was also a beneficiary of the cards for the displacement of health personnel and the transfer of patients. To this are added the volunteer activities focused on the company’s staff, through which the workers donated 285 kilos of food.
Machado stressed the fact that it has been possible to continue with the cultural projects and resume the Immerse yourself in Santa Cruz plan, which includes an urban art route through the city through various large-format murals, specifically 21 works by 18 artists that condition and embellish common spaces.
In addition, music has been brought closer to society as a whole through educational talks on the occasion of the International Music Festival of the Canary Islands. On the environmental level, the activity could be developed extensively, collaborating with the Sustainable Santa Cruz Association in the 58 km Litoral campaign to carry out land and underwater cleaning along the Santa Cruz coast, carrying out the activity Small school gardens, visits familiar to the Palmetum, guided and interpretive routes along the Anaga Massif, the Anaga Trail Solidario race, a small sustainable garden inside a roundabout and the financing of a research project on microplastics.
The youngest were able to participate in the Santa Cruz Club Basketball School, a summer and Christmas multisport campus that is held in partnership with different organizations and entities. In the educational field, the Foundation launched the second industrial doctorate at the University of La Laguna, as well as the first End-of-Degree and End-of-Master Work Awards and other activities and seminars aimed at students.
“Consolidate, specify and equip”
Jesús Velasco has highlighted three verbs that will define the following projects and, therefore, will support the action strategy, “consolidate, specify and provide the Foundation and its strategies with higher quality in 2021 and beyond.” In this sense, he stressed the need to “reinforce the successful projects that we have and, in turn, vindicate our commitment as Cepsa and as Fundación Cepsa towards the Sustainable Development Goals to which we want to be faithful in our projects.”
Consolidate sustainability goals
The exceptional circumstances originated as a result of Covid-19 generated in the entity the need to reorient its actions to continue providing the services that characterize the entity, and that allow it to meet the needs and priorities of society. Belén Machado emphasized that “in a different way, but with the same enthusiasm and drive as always, we have put all our effort into adapting to new circumstances and trying to be of help through our activities, collaborating with other entities social and administrations ”.
Looking ahead, the objectives that will define the following projects and support the Foundation’s action strategy will consist of consolidating successful projects and its commitment to the priority Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifying and expanding its field of action to face the needs generated by the new economic and social situation, strengthening activities that generate benefit for Canarian society. As a third objective, the entity will influence the increase of the quality, transparency and rigor of its actions in the short and medium term.
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