World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day was celebrated today at the castle of Castellet, headquarters of the abertis foundation. At the event a special tribute was paid to the role and the work done by all the volunteers and the members, both individuals and bodies, who support the Red Cross in its task of coming ever closer to people, through community projects and schemes.

During the event, held at the castle of Castellet (Castellet i la Gornal, Alt Penedès), Josep Marquès, President of the Catalan Red Cross, highlighted the institution’s importance in the community and the human capital it possesses – over 15,000 volunteers, 170,000 members and 1,300 employees working in more than 700 Catalan municipalities through a hundred local and area assemblies. Marquès stated that, “The Red Cross needs to continue to adapt to new social circumstances, whether for groups such as the elderly, dependent people or women who are victims of gender violence.”

For his part, Salvador Alemany, Managing Director of abertis, stressed his personal links to the Red Cross, having been vice-president of the organisation in Catalonia, and declared that, “I have never ceased to be a friend of the Red Cross.” Salvador Alemany expressed his admiration “for the people who devote themselves and their time to the work they do for the Red Cross, helping to relieve the dramas suffered by many people.” Alemany also referred to the link between the Red Cross and abertis, with examples like co-operation in the campaign to attract and encourage volunteers, providing health care services on motorways and sponsorship of the Humanitarian and Emergency Aid Store.

David Minoves, Director General of Humanitarian Aid at the Catalan autonomous government, commented that the international Red Cross and Red Crescent movement “meets the needs of all, and today proves itself able to act from Catalonia and throughout the world to confront humanitarian emergencies.” Finally, Assumpció Benito, Director General of Healthcare Resources in the Catalan autonomous government’s Department of Health, said that, “We need to persevere in pooling our efforts, between all the organisations involved in humanitarian efforts: companies, institutions such as the Red Cross and governments.”