• A report by the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES) shows the initiatives of 383 Social Economy companies in the fight against the pandemic.
• They have readapted their production to manufacture millions of masks and sanitary protection equipment, create and ensure the supply of basic necessities, medicalize hotels, attend to the most vulnerable groups of people, and have donated more than 100,000 KG of food.
• They are companies of all sizes that operate in numerous sectors of activity: industrial, financial, health, insurance, hotels, electrical, agri-food, livestock, health, consumption, distribution, education, dependency, social, technological, cultural, construction, or culture and leisure…
• The President of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño, specifies that “this report aims to send society a message of recognition, social responsibility, solidarity, improvement and the effort that Social Economy companies are making these days national emergency, being a business model focused on people. "
• The report, which the employers of the Social Economy has submitted to the Government, is available on the CEPES website through the following link: https://cutt.ly/Byr6kpR
Madrid, April 24, 2020 .- The Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy ( CEPES ) has prepared, together with its 27 partners and associated companies, a report showing the actions and initiatives carried out by 383 companies of this business model and his performance against Covid-19 . The sample includes companies of all sizes, from large companies, to SMEs to small businesses present in all economic sectors.
CEPES President, Juan Antonio Pedreño , specified that "the objective of this report is to send society a message of recognition, social responsibility, solidarity, improvement and the effort that the Social Economy plays in these days of national emergency , being a business model focused on people ”.
"The State of Alarm declared in Spain on March 14 has meant an unprecedented change not only in the lives of citizens, it is also greatly affecting economic activity . In this situation, CEPES has produced this report that shows the resilience and reinvention of the activity of Social Economy companies, always committed to society, jobs and their territory; and that they work tirelessly to guarantee people's well-being, ”Pedreño said.
For example, the report shows how 60 Social Economy companies are reorienting and adapting their production to manufacture sanitary protection materials and clothing, to ensure local supplies, or to put themselves at the service of Spanish health by medicalizing hotel chains or lending facilities to shelter groups at risk of exclusion or prepare meals and deliver them to the most vulnerable groups at home.
The report also highlights the work of companies in 41 cleaning and laundry sectors , which are carrying out a special disinfection of supermarkets, hospitals and work centers to guarantee the safety of all people. For their part, credit cooperatives are trying to provide liquidity to Social Economy companies and design, in record time, ad hoc financial products to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 with the ultimate objective of mantain activity and jobs.
DONATION: 100,000 KG OF FOOD
The actions of Solidaridad are very present in this category, where a total of 81 companies have carried out initiatives related to donations, volunteer actions and other social action actions such as, home delivery of food, exercise routines, help for make classes electronically for people with disabilities, make purchases from people in isolation, transport of patients or care of pets for hospitalized people. In this sense, Social Economy companies have donated more than 100,000 Kilos of food to charities, the sick, health personnel and the social groups most affected by the coronavirus. Also donations of material, screens or sanitary alcohol, toys or tablets so that the sick could talk to their families or so that schoolchildren from disadvantaged families could follow the school year.
Likewise, 27 other companies have been in charge of cleaning and disinfecting different surfaces, and collaborate in disinfection tasks with municipalities and municipalities, making available to the latter the machinery necessary for this, to sterilize streets, subways, supermarkets, hospitals, work centers and residences of people with intellectual disabilities or mental health problems. In addition, people with disabilities perform cleaning in social emergency centers for homeless people.
On the other hand, the report shows the initiatives related to the health, dependency and care sector of the people that have carried out a total of 9 Social Economy companies . These types of activities are mainly focused on preventive measures against the virus, assistance measures, training and information for workers, adaptations of facilities to guarantee the safety of citizens, free online physical and emotional support services and home help, specifically in sparsely populated rural areas.
A total of 4 Social Economy companies related to the distribution and consumption sector have had to assume an increase in demand after the beginning of the confinement, therefore, they have had to adopt a series of security measures for customers, keeping the distances in the queues and controlling the capacity on their surfaces, they have adapted their schedules, their home deliveries and have created or improved aid programs for vulnerable consumers. At the same time, they have taken measures with employees, rewarded or hired more personnel to avoid overloading hours.
Financial sector
The report also includes different initiatives of 7 companies in the financial sector to inject liquidity and the insurance sector that consist of opening special lines of personal loans, extension of the term for the repayment of loans, advances without cost for the unemployed, financing lines for their clients and special lines for financing micro-SMEs, SMEs and the self-employed.
Similarly, 3 companies in the electricity and water supply sector have taken measures such as guaranteeing supplies, not interrupting it, deferring payments for those who cannot pay them, maintaining maintenance services, modifying rates, or discounts on bills for a few months while the confinement lasts.
In addition, the report details the capacity for adaptation and improvement of business activity that 67 companies have had since the start of the state of alarm to achieve their work. Thus, these companies have continued to carry out recycling, catering or home delivery activities; They have focused efforts on equipping workers with sanitary material or offering techniques on social networks to keep the well-being emservice, free talks, free online advice and an express e-commerce service, as well as support for insertion workers, among many other initiatives.
For their part, Social Economy companies have also been engaged during the state of alarm of education, leisure and culture. In this sense, 13 companies are carrying out activities related to education, teaching and training , among which are the sending of anonymous messages to users of residences, support for families, children and all kinds of people during confinement, teachers and students have made videos of encouragement, letters of support to health professionals and the sick, online classes, as well as launching activities such as short story or photography contests, and the transfer of computers and tablets to disadvantaged families. The Teaching Cooperatives are also playing an important role in the manufacture of face masks and visors through 3D printers.
In addition, these companies have remembered the importance of culture and leisure and a total of 19 companies , which have made inspiring pills for debate and discussion, reading, webinars to talk about the coronavirus crisis, online concert festivals, activities and workshops, compilation of articles, texts, videos and materials related to the Covid-19, meeting spaces to share stories, or online book sales.
Finally, 59 other Social Economy companies have been in charge of carrying out other types of solidarity initiatives, among which stand out environmental proposals, proposals on rents, cooperative supermarkets between neighbors, solidarity economy, aid in the energy field, fair trade, health emotional, or solidarity masks, among many other solidarity proposals.
