Community
Social investment for 200,000 people
Ferrovial, as a global infrastructure operator and arranger of services for cities, is firmly committed to the development of cities and sustainable communities. It strives to reduce territorial imbalances, while aiding development, generating employment, generating employment, favoring local suppliers, paying its taxes and sharing skills, knowledge, innovation and technology.
Aside the positive social impact of its business activity —providing service to cities and their inhabitants— Ferrovial operates various community investment programs specifically aimed at improving the living conditions of people at risk of exclusion. In addition to the investment in the community, Ferrovial contributes to other associations and non-profit entities for approximate amount of 1.2 million euros.
Spain
In 2012, Ferrovial rolled out its Social Action in Spain initiative, through which it is helping to refurbish and modernize premises and facilities used to prepare and distribute food to extremely vulnerable segments of society.
In 2018, the company worked alongside the Spanish Red Cross in modernizing five centers located in Pinto, Getafe, Aranjuez, Totana and Cordoba. This scheme will ultimately benefit more than 7,000 people by giving them a basic, yet healthy and balanced diet, with special attention given to families with small children.
The company also promotes the Stronger Together project, now in its twelfth outing, in which employees can donate to social projects over the course of the year. On reaching the end of the year, Ferrovial doubles their contribution. The supported projects are chosen by the employees who take part in the program.
Four projects received support in 2018: the refurbishment of the Domingo Savio catering training center for young people at risk of social exclusion in Valencia; the refurbishment of a building used to provide free accommodation for families of children hospitalized for congenital cardiopathy and living away from home in Madrid; a comprehensive support program for women and young victims of sexual violence in armed conflict zone in Goma, North Kivu, DR Congo, and a project to help prevent blindness in children from Mali.
When it comes to integrating people with disabilities, Ferrovial and the Adecco Foundation are working together on their Family Plan to help the family members of disabled employees. Meanwhile, Cadagua is committed to advanced professional training for disabled people. It is also heavily involved in Unidos, a pioneering project that provides academic and career guidance, and in the Grants Program of the Adecco Foundation aimed at disabled students. It also has agreements in place with Fundación ONCE and Fundación Integra, which champion the labor market integration of people at risk of social exclusion, including disabled people.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, Amey and the Duke of Edinburgh Foundation have been working together for 14 years now to improve the employment prospects of thousands of young adults at risk of exclusion. The program is being run in Staffordshire, Birmingham, Liverpool, Wales and Sheffield.
Also in Sheffield but this time in partnership with Sheffield College, the company has set up an internship scheme for young people with learning difficulties aged between 18 and 24. More specifically, a total of ten young men and women have benefitted from this initiative by acquiring valuable work experience at offices, workshops and warehouses. The scheme, which runs for one school year, also seeks to improve the job prospects of these young adults.
Further highlights include the Amey Challenge Cup, a learning competition for careers in engineering. Aimed at girls aged 13 to 15, participants are asked to design and build a work of infrastructure, such as a bridge or college. Their projects are then put before a panel comprising of Amey volunteers and government representatives.
Numbers of projects
Investment in the community
Beneficiaries of water and sanitation projects
Stronger together: working towards a bright future in Mali
In 2018, one of the projects selected by employees under the Juntos Sumamos program was “Working towards a brighter future: preventing blindness in children from Mali”, organized by the Eyes of the World Foundation.
The project has enabled 5,500 children, including 2,760 girls, from 35 primary and secondary schools in the Mopti and Douentza regions of Mali, to have their eyes checked for eye diseases and/or poor eyesight. The examinations are conducted by ophthalmological health personnel from the region, in collaboration with local heads of education. A visit to a specialist is arranged for those children whose eyesight problems require more specialized attention. In addition, 200 sets of glasses have been made and delivered free of charge to children from destitute and low-income families.
The case of Adama Ouedraogo, a 14-year-old student living in Koro IV, is a prime example of how the project can change children’s lives for the better. He explained that his eyes would hurt much of the time and how reading a book would make his eyes watery. Eyes of the World detected refractory errors in his eyes and prescribed him corrective lenses. His average grades at school have since improved. In his own words: “I am very happy, because the glasses have helped me follow my classes. Without glasses, I couldn’t read or write. Thank you so much!”
United States
In the United States, Ferrovial is involved in various educational projects by providing funding or getting its employees involved. For example, it collaborates with South Florida Construction Careers Days to raise awareness and arouse an interest in youngsters for careers in and around the construction trade. The company is also involved in the National Math and Science Initiative in Texas, which aims to education in science, technology, mathematics and engineering more attractive and successful for students and teachers alike.
Poland
Budimex is working alongside Strefa Rodzica to help set up separate areas in the pediatric wards of hospitals where parents can spend time with their sick children. Also in the realm of child safety, the Domofon ICE initiative provides pupils with identifiers, which can easily be linked up to a school satchel to locate the child rapidly in the event of an emergency.
Australia
Aside from Broadspectrum’s commitment to integrating indigenous people through its Reconciliation Action Plan, the company is seeking to raise awareness among its employees of the culture, history and values of Aboriginal Australians.
Meanwhile, in Australia and New Zealand, the company is busy training young people and readying them for the job market by expanding their knowledge of different job positions, arranging meetings with company workers and helping them acquire the different skills needed in a real working environment. To achieve this, it has rolled out various initiatives, including Career Trackers, Dismantle and Seymour-Puckapunyal Youth Partnership.
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Ferrovial has a Social Infrastructure Program in place since 2011, which promotes international cooperation and development projects to provide access to fresh water and sanitation in numerous African and Latin American countries. The company has come up with a method for measuring the social impact of the projects carried out from this year onward.
The program relies on the support of various interest groups, development NGOs, local authorities and employees, who are offered the opportunity to take part as volunteers by visiting the beneficiary country and applying their professional knowledge there. The initiative was granted the I Award for Corporate Volunteering by Fundación Telefónica and has now completed four projects benefiting a total of 14,237 people:
- Lwangu District, Tanzania. Construction of a gravity flow structure for the supply of water; construction of a 75 m³ tank and distribution through 15 km of pipeline to bring the water to 15 delivery points.
- Veredas 20 de Julio and La Encarnación, municipality of Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia. Modernization of water capture facilities and installation of two water treatment plants.
- Community of San Benito, municipality of Lebrija, Santander, Colombia. Installation of a treatment plant to supply water fit for human consumption to 80 families and the local school.
- San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima, Peru. Modernization of five cisterns and construction of an elevated tank, replacement of pumps and pipeline and construction of six lavatories at five educational centers.
Community support projects by areas (%)
Community support projects by contribution (%)
Investment in the community (%)
Content of this section
Ferrovial in 2018
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