There are many types of partners. Some want to win the Champions League, others want to attend opera concerts, and others wait for the dividends. Those of the Creu Roja seek something more valuable: helping the people who need it most by providing them with close and human attention. A task possible thanks to the involvement of the 20,272 volunteers – 61% women and 38% over 50 years of age – and the solidarity of the 222,107 people and partner companies in Catalonia. All of them have made it possible for 422,324 people – 57% women – to be served in 2022 and more than one million interventions to be carried out. The Creu Roja is an international voluntary humanitarian organization and “without the volunteers and the partner people and companies, our work would not be possible,” says Josep Quitet, president of the Creu Roja in Catalonia.
The entity responds to the needs of the population: from international cooperation to supporting women who suffer gender violence, including the fight against unwanted loneliness, the promotion of school success and the employment of young people, among others. . “Our strength is being both global and local. We are with the victims in countries in conflict and in Catalonia accompanying the elderly. But we need everyone's solidarity to carry out the projects,” Quitet remarks.
Anna Sabaté, coordinator of the Creu Roja in Catalonia, explains that the projects are many and reach all types of groups. “Sometimes the work of professionals and volunteers begins when the rest of us are at home, about to go to bed. It is when our Social Emergency Units go out to assist people who live on the streets or women who are in prostitution environments.” Last year, the entity assisted more than 157,000 people in situations of extreme vulnerability and more than 4,200 women victims of sexist violence in Catalonia, “whom we accompany, we help to socialize and express the pain they have suffered, and we empower them” , highlights Sabaté.
Childhood and older people are two areas very present in the Creu Roja. The Éxito Escolar program allows almost 1,500 boys and girls to have a quiet space where they can have a snack and do their homework, and the entity works to reverse the unwanted loneliness of older people. It does this with the telecare service (15,000 people in Catalonia) and with telephone and in-person support. "Last year we made 490,000 calls to people who are alone, a job that no one finances us and with which we seek to get closer to those who no one congratulates them on their saint's day or birthday, or wishes them a happy holiday or cares about their health" explains the coordinator.
In addition, the entity is present in emergency situations, promotes international cooperation and works to help migrants. Sabaté emphasizes that the Creu Roja is the last entity to abandon a place. "When it is no longer news, we are still there to accompany and provide the necessary psychological support."
