- Changing Lives begins its sixth edition today in Seville with the support of the Endesa Foundation, an entity that celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
- The aim of the programme is to train and support vulnerable people this year to help them join the labour market. This initiative has also been implemented in Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza and Palma de Mallorca and aims to benefit a total of 335 people, 75 of them in Seville.
- Since 2016, the programme has helped improve the employability of 642 people in Seville and more than 2,700 throughout Spain. This has enabled them to reintegrate into society, together with their families.
The Endesa Foundation has launched a new edition of the Changing Lives programme in an event that took place this morning at the Cartuja Science and Technology Park in Seville and was attended by Rocío Blanco, Minister of Employment, Enterprise and Self-Employment of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Rafael Sánchez Durán, General Manager of Endesa in Andalusia and Extremadura, Javier Blanco, General Manager of the Endesa Foundation, and Patricia Campayo, Manager of Employment at the Integra Foundation, as well as the volunteers and beneficiaries of this project, who were welcomed by Luis Pérez Díaz, General Manager of PCT Cartuja.
In 2016, the Endesa Foundation, in its commitment to promoting actions to improve employability and insertion into the labour market for people at risk of social exclusion, launched the Changing Lives programme, in collaboration with the Integra Foundation, which involves support and preparation for this group of people to enable them to be incorporated into the labour market. This initiative also enjoys the support of Endesa volunteer employees, who receive prior training to help beneficiaries acquire basic skills that will enable them to be successful in job interviews, get a job and ultimately change their lives.
Changing Lives is active not only in Seville but also in Barcelona, Madrid, Zaragoza and Palma de Mallorca. Since the first edition, the programme has benefited a total of 2,717 people. The participants in the project are members of a number of NGOs, public and private social institutions and Social Services in a number of municipalities. In 2022, the programme supported 220 people in Seville, whilst 39 social entities collaborated in the selection of the beneficiaries and 21 companies made the employment contracts.
This year, Changing Lives is expected to benefit at least 75 people in Seville; it will also assist beneficiaries from previous editions who may still need help.
The Minister of Employment, Enterprise and Self-Employment, Rocío Blanco, congratulated the Endesa Foundation and the Integra Foundation for the Changing Lives initiative, and opted for the involvement of all administrations, the private sector and non-profit organisations to fight against "this pending issue that remains as a result of the pandemic" in reference to the increase in inequality.
In this regard, Rocío Blanco explained that her department has initiated a public information procedure for a new programme by the Andalusian Employment Service (SAE in Spanish) aimed at vulnerable groups, which it aims to finance with €65 million for the development of Integral Projects to improve the possibility of labour insertion for people who have special difficulties to access employment. The Minister pointed out that one of the requirements for the integral projects would be for the participants to achieve a minimum of 40% labour insertion, and that the forecasts are to reach 10,000 beneficiaries with the collaboration of both Training entities, as well as Insertion Companies, non-profit organisations and local corporations.
In his speech, Rafael Sánchez, Endesa's General Manager in Andalusia and Extremadura, gave special mention to Endesa's commitment to employability and the creation of a qualified professional labour force within the territory through training programmes and the creation of high-quality employment, for example, in the field of renewables, a sector to which it is firmly committed. "We have been present in Andalusia for 128 years, supporting its social-economic development. To do this we have more than 2,200 direct workers and generate more than 15,000 stable indirect jobs through supplier companies and contractors. Our commitment remains strong and that is why we have presented an industrial plan for Andalusia that involves an investment of €3,441 million which makes Endesa the private company that invests the most in the Andalusian territory".
Javier Blanco, General Manager of the Endesa Foundation, pointed out during the event that "with the Changing Lives project our aim is to provide better opportunities for those who do not have them, helping them to improve their employability, achieve a better future and progress together with their families. Together with Fundación Integra and Endesa volunteers, we are proud to be able to inaugurate a new edition of this programme in Seville, and to continue contributing to the progress and social development of people and their environments, giving them the tools they need to start again and change their lives".
For the Employment Manager at Fundación Integra, Patricia Campayo, it is "a final project which seeks to provide a definitive and sustained solution to the situation of social exclusion in which many people find themselves in our Spain"; she also thanked the Endesa Foundation and Endesa for "having had the vision 8 years ago to see that this project could change many lives".
About the Endesa Foundation
The Endesa Foundation is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. A quarter of a century of social work that enables us to look to the future with the challenge of continuing to progress, with a broad and conscious outlook on human beings and the rest of the species that surround us to build a world in which there is room for everyone.
With this in mind, the Endesa Foundation contributes to social development and the conservation of biodiversity through education, training for employment, culture, volunteering and urban biodiversity projects so that there is a future in which we can all live together and in balance with each other.
About the Integra Foundation
The Integra Foundation works to achieve the integration of people in social exclusion and with disabilities into the labour market. These include women who are victims of gender violence, people with disabilities, young people on probation, homeless people, prisoners and ex-prisoners, long-term unemployed, or ethnic minorities. It also acts as a link between institutions, NGOs and companies willing to offer an opportunity to these people. Since 2001, the Foundation has secured more than 20,000 jobs.