CaixaBank mobilises nearly 9,000 employees and customers in Social Week

• For eight days, CaixaBank employees and customers accompanied social entities in their activities in order to support the most vulnerable groups, taking part in activities of a social, caregiving, educational, cultural and environmental nature.
• At total of 7,601 employees and 1,044 customers of the financial institution have taken part as volunteers.
• In 2018, CaixaBank distributed 44.4 million euros from Obra Social “la Caixa” through its branches, which were used to promote more than 12,000 local projects.

Between 19 and 27 October, CaixaBank organised a new edition of Social Week, which featured the participation of close to 9,000 employees and customers from the bank and its subsidiaries. In total, 1,674 activities were scheduled with NGOs and social entities with which the financial institution regularly collaborates, in order to give its employees and customers the chance to discover the intense social work carried out and some of the main needs of their surrounding environment.

The activities, which cover a broad range of subject matters and actions –such as educational support for minors at risk of social exclusion, leisure with the elderly and environmental activities– have produced more than 20,000 hours of voluntary work.

The first Social Week of the year, which was held at the start of April, featured the participation of more than 12,000 employees from CaixaBank, the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation, Criteria and its subsidiaries, who helped in more than 3,000 activities organised by around 1,500 local social entities throughout Spain.

Long-lasting collaboration

Thanks to its territorial capillarity, the CaixaBank branch network can support the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation in its social work, detecting local needs and channelling a part of its social investment. The collaboration between both institutions enables thousands of social foundations and associations to access the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation grants every year and obtain selfless, voluntary collaboration from the employees of both entities. Last year 43.6 million euros were allotted to support local social projects, small-scale actions leaving a deep-rooted impact in the territories in which the financial institution operates.

In 2018, almost 9,500 companies throughout Spain (more than 11,500 projects) received a boost thanks to the commitment of CaixaBank branches to the social fabric of their surrounding environment and to the budget allotted by the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation for these initiatives.

Walk in the Natural Park of Cornalvo (Badajoz). More than 60 CaixaBank employees and volunteers participated in this route, accompanying people with different special needs.

CaixaBank, a benchmark in socially responsible banking

CaixaBank is a bank with a deeply social vocation. As a result of the legacy bequeathed to it, the bank upholds an attitude of serving society and its customers. That is why it is committed to financial inclusion and is the only bank which can be found in all towns and cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants and in 94% of those with more than 5,000. It is also the only bank that offers microloans to people with no guarantees or sureties, through MicroBank, to help them drive their personal and professional projects. It maintains a commitment to financial culture through various initiatives, to help people to make better decisions to manage their finances. And almost half of its workforce takes part in voluntary work, either in Social Week promoted by the bank or through membership with the “la Caixa” Volunteer Association all year-round.

CaixaBank stands out due to its responsible actions and this is acknowledged by the main international organisations. The global Dow Jones Sustainability Index ranks it among the best banks in the world in terms of corporate responsibility. Similarly, the international organisation CDP acknowledges CaixaBank as the leading bank in the struggle against climate change.

CaixaBank, within its new 2019-2021 Strategic Plan, seeks to be a leading and innovative financial group with the best customer service, while being a benchmark for socially responsible banking. To do so, it is developing a plan that has five priority lines of action: integrity, transparency and diversity, strengthening its responsible activity; governance, maintaining the best possible model of governance; environment, collaborating in the struggle against climate change; financial inclusion, inspiration from the bank's foundation; and, lastly, social action and voluntary work, to contribute to responding to the issues of those most in need.

Volunteers from Castilla y León visited the Archaeological Site of Atapuerca with children from the CaixaProinfancia programme, which works to promote social and educational development in childhood and adolescence, among other objectives. They were accompanied by Eudald Carbonell, co-director of Atapuerca, together with his team.