BY EU STUDIO

Updated Friday, June 17, 2022-10:15

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Today, Monday, June 20, World Refugee Day is celebrated.

A date that acquires special dimension and relevance this 2022 in the face of the human tragedy caused by the exodus of Ukrainians fleeing the war.

Many of them, to our country.

According to official data from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, more than 134,000 refugees have arrived in Spain since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Some of them, around 200, have been welcomed in recent months at the Grupo Santander Financial City facilities in Madrid, which without hesitation assumed all the expenses that would derive from this reception, more than one million euros.

Among them, 25 children suffering from cancer and other pathologies who have been transferred to our country to resume cancer treatments that had to be paralyzed by the war, in the Niño Jesús, 12 de Octubre, Gregorio Marañón and La Paz hospitals.

For his arrival, Banco Santander chartered an Iberia flight in coordination with the Spanish Embassy in Poland, the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, and various NGOs.

The smallest refugees have gone daily to the Children's School of the Grupo Santander Financial City.Sergio González

Now, some intend to return to their country, while the majority will stay in Madrid, in foster homes or with relatives.

This is the case of Anastasiia, a 22-year-old girl whose immediate future is in Spain with the family with whom she arrived from Ukraine.

He says that one day he would like to return to his country and his usual life, but now it is time to start from scratch here after sharing intense weeks with volunteers, employees and professionals from Banco Santander in collaboration with other institutions and NGOs, such as CEAR (Commission Spanish Refugee Aid), Aladina Foundation or Red Cross.

Children's School of the Grupo Santander Financial City. Sergio González

The same people and organizations that have done everything possible so that each and every one of those who one day had to leave their lives behind feel at home.

Above all, the youngest, who have been attending the Infant School that Santander has available to all its employees, while the older ones have followed their classes in Ukraine through the internet.

People who give others their time

Key to this is the work of nearly 300 Banco Santander volunteers who have shared nearly 750 hours of their time with refugee families to promote, participate with them and guide them in much-needed activities such as Spanish classes.

Through worksheets and face-to-face workshops, volunteers such as Inés Ruiz de la Cuesta have taught Ukrainians the most basic vocabulary, as well as expressions to use in their day-to-day lives and quickly learn to understand each other in our country.

There have also been yoga classes, piano concerts, visits to the Madrid zoo or circus shows for the enjoyment of the little ones, for whom the training in Spanish is also designed, although adapted to their abilities.

Mural made by the smallest Ukrainian refugees housed in the Grupo Santander Financial City.

Sergio Gonzalez.

A total of 70 volunteers from the financial institution have gathered in a solidarity activity to build more than 1,000 cards that will facilitate the learning of Spanish for Ukrainian refugee children.

The material, produced by the Red Cross of El Plantío-Aravaca (Madrid), will be used from now on in the classes that this institution teaches in its nine centers in the Community of Madrid.

The templates with basic words in Spanish and Ukrainian are designed for children between 3 and 10 years old, who must complete and colour, thus facilitating the learning of our language.

The importance of training and employment

In the new stage that these refugees are now beginning, the financial entity will continue to help them "looking for flats, foster families...", as stated by Belén Sánchez, director of General Services of the Financial City of the Santander Group.

But also with initiatives such as 'Companies for Ukraine', a digital platform launched by the CEOE Foundation with the collaboration of Santander through Universia, in which training and employment offers are centralized preferably for people from Ukraine, as a step prior to its effective integration in Spain.

The bank has made available to this project the experience of Universia, an open platform of non-financial services to accompany users on the path to employability and orientation towards the world of work.

Belén Sánchez, Director of General Services of Grupo Santander Financial City;

Anastasiia Hrynzovska, Ukrainian refugee;

Paco Garrido, coordinator of CEAR Madrid;

and Inés Ruiz de la Cuesta, Banco Santander volunteer. Sergio González

On the other hand, the entity, through its Foundation, has promoted a special Ukraine edition of the well-known Santander Help program, to offer support to different NGOs for the development of projects to care for Ukrainian children and adolescents who have taken refuge in Spain. .

In total, 250,000 euros have been allocated to 11 small and medium-sized organizations that are working with this group, especially with children and adolescents, and that have fewer resources and infrastructure.

Steps forward of support and aid that began from Santander as soon as the conflict broke out, with an initial donation of one million euros to the Red Cross and ACNUR, the UN refugee agency, and continued to match additional donations of its employees in different countries.

In a short space of time, donations between clients and employees of the entity exceeded 10 million euros.

At the same time, the entity maintains other measures such as the elimination of commissions on transfers allowed from European countries to Ukraine, the suspension of account and card commissions for Ukrainian clients in Poland or the provision of ATMs and permanent access of cash in branches.

Discover all Banco Santander's initiatives to help the Ukrainian people.

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This text has been developed by UE Studio, a creative branded content and content marketing firm from Unidad Editorial, for SANTANDER.

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