THE RAFA NADAL FOUNDATION HAS CELEBRATED THE AWARDS CEREMONY OF THE II RAFA NADAL FOUNDATION AWARDS IN PALMA DE MALLORCA

● The Rafa Nadal Foundation Awards promote initiatives by non-profit entities that contribute to improving the quality of life for different vulnerable groups.

● Telefónica enhances the recognition of these awards as a collaborating company.

• Each awarded entity has received a financial grant of €15,000 to contribute to the development of the winning project.

• The Fit For Life special recognition was presented to Raí Souza, a true legend of Brazilian football and one of the greatest icons in the history of PSG. Since 1998, his social project, the Gol de Letra Foundation, has been working in Brazil using sports as a tool for social transformation in the lives of thousands of children and young people.

• The awards ceremony took place on the evening of March 20th in Palma de Mallorca and was attended by representatives of UNESCO, José María Álvarez-Pallete, Chairman of Telefónica, and Rafael Nadal himself, professional tennis player and founding patron.

The Rafa Nadal Foundation has presented the awards to the winners of the II Rafa Nadal Foundation Awards, an initiative promoted by Telefónica that recognizes and supports outstanding social projects and initiatives in five different categories.

The celebration and awards ceremony took place on the night of March 20th at the Es Baluard Museum in Palma de Mallorca, following the success of last year’s inaugural event.

The five winning projects of the second edition of the II Rafa Nadal Foundation Awards are:

• Development Cooperation: CIM Burkina: “Access to clean water and decent sanitation in the school environment. Construction of a well and toilets at the Tambour de Gaoua school (Burkina Faso), as fundamental rights of childhood.” This initiative addresses these basic needs in the school community by providing safe and easily accessible facilities for both students and teaching staff. Beyond promoting health and well-being by preventing a long list of infectious diseases, the project focuses on creating a conducive environment for school attendance under dignified conditions, also contributing to environmental improvement.

• Sport: Fundació La Vinya: “Move with me” is a space born out of the “Embellir-se envellint” project. An intergenerational space that, through sports, seeks to improve the bio-psychosocial well-being of participants, women over 65 years old, facilitating active and healthy aging and combating unwanted loneliness, as well as stereotypes constructed by ageism that often relegates older people to invisibility or portrays them as a burden, dispensable, or incapable.

• Education: RANA Foundation: “Building a childhood and adolescence free from sexual abuse.” Preventing sexual abuse begins with citizen knowledge and information. Workshops for children and adolescents aged 5 to 16, divided into age groups: “Exploring with Nil” is a workshop for children aged 4 and 5, the storytelling workshop “Estela Shouts Loud!” (book by Bel Olid), for children aged 6 to 11, and the workshop for teenagers “We Need You” is aimed at young people aged 12 to 16, all prepared with the same objective.

• Social Innovation: Miradas Foundation: “bbMiradas” is a unique and innovative program for detecting and intervening in suspicions of autism in babies under 36 months. It combines classic diagnostic techniques with eye-tracking technology and a specially developed algorithm, offering babies with confirmed suspicions the opportunity to receive free intervention mediated by their family and aimed at providing guidelines, orientations, and support for understanding autism and sociocommunicative stimulation of the baby; ultimately for improving present and future quality of life.

• Health and Well-being: Cudeca Foundation: “The CUDECA Pediatric Day Unit project” aims to offer children and adolescents with incurable diseases a series of non-medicalized care in an environment specially designed for them. A welcoming, pleasant environment, very different from the hospital setting, where both they and their parents, siblings, even grandparents, can receive therapeutic care and recreational activities, individually, in groups, or with the family, according to their preferences and needs, helping everyone to lead as “normal” a life as possible.

Each awarded entity has received a financial grant of €15,000 to contribute to the development of their winning project. The awards ceremony was attended by Rafael Nadal, representatives of UNESCO, and José María Álvarez-Pallete, Chairman of Telefónica, who were also present at the first edition.

In addition to the awards ceremony, this year’s gala paid special tribute to Raí Souza, former Brazilian footballer, collaborator of UNESCO’s Fit for Life initiative, and promoter of the Gol de Letra Foundation, which has been transforming the lives of children and young people in disadvantaged communities in Brazil for over 26 years.

Rafael Nadal, founding patron of the Rafa Nadal Foundation, expressed his enthusiasm for this social initiative that supports so many projects and thanked Telefónica for its constant support. The ceremony was hosted by Susana Guasch and featured a special performance by violinist Pablo Navarro, adding an artistic touch to a night full of emotions.

This event represents a continued commitment to social development through sport, education, innovation, and networking, fundamental values for the Rafa Nadal Foundation and Telefónica.