Europe 1 SEASON 2023 - 2024 6:00 p.m., March 6, 2024
This week, Pierre-Marie Chapon speaks with Florence PUIG, Director of Engagement at KLESIA, to discuss the partnership set up by KLESIA, a social protection group, with 1000 cafés.
This initiative, launched in 2019 by the SOS Group, aims to create and support village cafés in small towns.
KLESIA and its supplementary retirement institutions, with the support of Agirc-Arrco, wanted to enrich the offer in service and entertainment cafés intended for seniors, particularly affected by isolation.
According to the Little Brothers of the Poor, 530,000 elderly people are currently in a situation of “social death”.
This problem is even more serious in rural areas, deprived of transport and shops.
The project supported by KLESIA has two components:
- The first part concerns the equipment of cafes and the training of managers in order to develop meal services for seniors, including meals offered to the most vulnerable.
- The second component supports a program of activities within cafés, including for example sports workshops adapted for seniors, or intergenerational activities.
6 cafés have already benefited from support to develop catering activities, with investments in equipment and training, particularly on feeding seniors.
More than 130 free solidarity baskets were distributed and 54 events were organized, such as a “Village Tour” this summer, with open-air cinema and the screening of the film “Antoinette dans les Cévennes”.
Furthermore, a partnership has also been set up with the French Chess Federation, which is very committed on a social level.
Its members plan to soon offer activities in cafes.
Currently deployed in the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region and Occitanie, this partnership between KLESIA and 1000 cafés will be evaluated after three years.
For more information, you can consult the 1.000 cafés website