- Today the Rafa Nadal Foundation Centre in Madrid was inaugurated. This is a new project that is part of the tennis player's foundation, and it became a reality thanks to the great support of ENDESA with the collaboration of the City Council of Madrid and Construye Capital
The Rafa Nadal Foundation has taken another step forward in its trajectory with the creation of the new Rafa Nadal Foundation Centre in Madrid.
The new centre is located in the San Fermín neighbourhood, in the district of Usera, in the south of Madrid and will be able to take care of about 100 minors and their families at risk of social exclusion through sports, educational and psychosocial support activities.
The Rafa Nadal Foundation has been developing this same project for nine years in Palma de Mallorca and for almost four years in Valencia. In both cities, activities focus on disadvantaged areas and people at risk of social exclusion, taking care of over 400 children a year.
The Madrid centre is located in installations belong to the San Fermin Library, the nerve centre of the neighbourhood and very near the Caja Mágica, where they have enabled an area for sports activities with minors.
The project responds to needs identified as a result of the social crisis arising from the pandemic and was fully financed by Endesa's Public Responsibility Plan to combat Covid 19. This is one more action demonstrating the energy company's commitment to combatting the social effects of the pandemic.
The opening ceremony was attended by Rafael Nadal, founding sponsor, Jose Luís Martínez-Almeida, Mayor of Madrid, Begoña Villacís, Deputy Mayor of Madrid and José Bogas, Chief Executive Officer of Endesa, the main company behind the programme.
María Francisca Perelló, Director of the Rafa Nadal Foundation which was founded more than eleven years ago, was very excited about this new project, which is now underway and in which the foundation is committed to collaborating with forces in the neighbourhood of San Fermín to offer equal opportunities to minors and families in vulnerable situations by providing them with sport, education and psychosocial care.
Rafael Nadal himself thanked everyone for the good reception given to the project in the neighbourhood and gave special mention to the support of Endesa, the main ally for this project in Madrid. He also thanked the Madrid City Council and the Construye Capital for their collaboration in enabling this new programme to be undertaken in the best installation and under the best conditions.
The Chief Executive Officer of Endesa, José Bogas explained how the project came about: "At the beginning of last year we announced a donation to the Rafa Nadal Foundation within the framework of the Public Responsibility Plan promoted by Endesa with the aim of mitigating the health, social and economic effects that the pandemic continues to cause in Spain.
Since it was launched, it has had an impact on more than 2 million people through 150 projects. We are gathered here today to celebrate one of them. When you collaborate with an entity like the Rafa Nadal Foundation you know that things can only go well. We are proud to open this centre in Madrid and to continue doing what we can to ensure that no one is left behind".
Endesa's Public Responsibility Plan in response to Covid 19
This is Endesa's contribution to combatting the Covid-19 crisis and more specifically its social and economic effects. So far there are 150 projects that have benefited two million people. Between 2020 and 2021, €25 million were allocated to urgent medical-health aid and, in a second phase, to support SMEs, the unemployed, families and vulnerable groups.
The Rafa Nadal Foundation
The Rafa Nadal Foundation works with the firm conviction that sport and education are ideal tools for transformation and for creating a better world. It supports children and young people on their way to a high-quality future.
It is developing a number of projects in Spain and India with which it contributes directly with a view to achieving four of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations, which in turn become the four main axes of impact: Health and well-being, high-quality education, reduction of inequalities and partnerships to achieve the goals.
About Endesa
Endesa is the largest electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. The company is also the second largest gas operator in Spain. Endesa operates an end-to-end generation, distribution and marketing business. Through Endesa X it also offers value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy usage in homes, companies, industries and public administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and therefore strongly supports the development of renewable energies through Enel
Green Power Spain, the digitalisation of networks through e-distribución, and
Corporate Social Responsibility. The Endesa Foundation is also active in CSR. Our workforce numbers around 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, Europe’s largest electricity group.