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Tomorrow, Iberdrola will celebrate its International Volunteer Day within the framework of its commitment to improving the quality of life of people in the regions where the company operates.   The event will be held in all the main countries where the group operates: Spain, the UK, the US, Brazil and Mexico.

More than 1,300 volunteers from Iberdrola have signed up for this international charity initiative.  As part of this initiative, the company has organised 60 activities for them to take part in. 

These activities, which are carried out in collaboration with different organisations, are mainly related to functional diversity, homeless people, the elderly, migrants, children, women prisoners or victims of gender violence, food banks and environmental support.

The objective of this day is to encourage the commitment of our professional staff to society, familiarise participants with the beneficiaries' daily experiences in order to raise public awareness and to show the spirit of solidarity felt by group employees from all over the world through their participation in social projects aligned with Iberdrola's values.

In Spain, the company’s employees will collaborate in different inclusive recreational activities, including adapted sports, and awareness raising activities, as well as cooking, painting and flower therapy workshops, rehabilitation of areas and environmental activities, as well as helping in soup kitchens or making the day happier for the elderly and women prisoners by sharing different activities with them.

The activities will be held in 12 autonomous communities: The Community of Madrid, the Basque Country, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Galicia, Castile and León, Murcia, Navarre, La Rioja, Andalusia and  Extremadura.

For their part, employees in the US will be able to choose from among 16 activities related to youth, food banks and the environment and they will have, among other opportunities, the possibility of helping to repair the facilities in institutions for children and youngsters and to help in the conservation of green spaces for public use.  

In the UK, professionals from the subsidiary ScottishPower will take part in activities relating to youth, the environment and sport such as support for charity races, improvements in city centres, green areas and recreational areas for disabled people, youngsters at risk of exclusion and homeless people. 

This year, in Brazil, they will focus on activities relating to childhood.  The volunteers will go to different social organisations to make toys with young children using recycled materials and participate in a book collection scheme to make reading accessible to people with reading difficulties.  

On this occasion, in Mexico, more regions will join International Volunteer Day, offering opportunities that range from reforestation, eco-technology, replacing existing lighting with LED lights, accompanying migrants and the improvement of facilities in shelters for children. 

More than 8,000 opportunities for corporate volunteers

The International Volunteer Day also allows Iberdrola to make its Corporate Volunteer programme known, which it has been building up since 2006, and which is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In line with the company’s activity, this programme focuses efforts on fulfilling goals number 7 (affordable and non-polluting energy), number 13 (climate action), number 3 (health and well being),  number 4 (quality education) and number 10 (reducing inequality).

In 2016, alone, the 8.175 volunteer activities offered worldwide through the Iberdrola trilingual volunteering portal benefited more than 1 million people both directly and indirectly.

Also, Iberdrola has received various distinctions as a result of its Corporate Volunteering programme.  Last year, the company received a Special Mention from the King of Spain, Felipe VI, on the occasion of the celebration of the first decade of its International Programme: "The existence and creation of this programme is an undoubted success and another manifestation of effective and tangible social responsibility," said the monarch in his visit to the headquarters of the company.

In 2015, Iberdrola also received recognition for its charity activities from the Spanish NGO Cooperación Internacional.  Previously, the Citizens Awards Association and the Citizen Debate Forum recognised the company's commitment to disadvantaged groups and the positive repercussions in society of its voluntary activities, both locally and internationally.