Together with Creu Roja, we will be collecting products for babies and young children and encouraging members & supporters clubs to welcome families and organise socio-educational or sporting activities for refugee children arriving to our home

After President Joan Laporta's message of support for Ukraine on 4 March, the FC Barcelona Foundation has been working over the last two weeks with Creu Roja, in constant contact with the Regional Government of Catalonia and the Consulate of Ukraine in Barcelona, to respond to and offer support to all the Ukrainian families who have been forced to leave their country and have been arriving in Catalonia for some days now. The Foundation has organised a series of actions to guarantee effective help to the Ukrainian population.

One of the first actions will be to set up three tents at the Camp Nou to collect essential products for babies and young children arriving with their mothers. These tents will be set up in different parts of the Camp Nou on 28, 29 and 30 March, coinciding with the women's football team Champions League match, when we expect to see a full house and will ask all those attending to bring their donations. The tents will be opened again on the weekend of April 3 for all those attending the games at the Palau Blaugrana and the first team match against Sevilla FC at the Camp Nou

A team of Red Cross volunteers and Club employees will oversee the collection of products in the tents, which Creu Roja will then take to their logistics centre in Igualada. From here, they will deliver them to Ukrainian refugee families and other families assisted by the organisation who are highly vulnerable and face a situation of social risk
 
The FC Barcelona Foundation and Barça club have been collaborating for years on various projects to benefit vulnerable children and young people in Catalonia

The products that Creu Roja has recommended as most necessary are:

•    Powdered baby formula
•    Powdered cereals for children
•    Pureed Baby food (fruit, vegetables, chicken, fish and others)
•    Snacks and biscuits for children
•    Fruit juices

The Foundation, following indications provided by Creu Roja, emphasises the importance of these specific products over others, since they are essential to covering the needs of children and infants arriving in Catalonia..

Financial support is very important in humanitarian emergencies such as this one and must be directed to organisations that have the appropriate experience and operational capacity. For this reason, anyone who is interested in helping can make a donation to the Creu Roja through the following channels:

Bizum: to number 03282
Online: www.creuroja.org 
Toll-free number: 900 104 971
Bank accounts:
•    Banc Santander: ES58 0049 1806 9022 1208 3714
•    La Caixa: ES47 2100 5000 5102 0006 8140

On the other hand, we will also distribute sports material and Club merchandise to donate to these families.

The FCB Foundation is working with the Regional Government of Catalonia to inform interested parties about the possibility of hosting refugee families at a community, family, or organisation level over the next few weeks.

In this regard, we are working on an awareness-raising campaign to find host families in Catalonia for the thousands of refugees currently arriving and who will surely be arriving in greater numbers in the coming days. This will be especially aimed at Club members, the supporters clubs and fans.

The FC Barcelona Foundation is also coordinating all the support and aid that is being received from suppliers, sponsors, members, companies and any individuals who wish to collaborate in helping these refugee families. 

Based on the FC Barcelona Foundation's many years of experience collaborating on projects for refugees, a series of socio-educational and sporting activities will also be organised for Ukrainian children and young people at reception centres across various Catalan towns. The Foundation is organising a team of volunteers made up of the Club's members and staff to carry out this action, which aims to provide emotional support and encourage participation in physical activity and sports for these children who are experiencing emotional stress. Likewise, we will also be working on aspects related to language support, so that these individuals can learn Spanish and Catalan to help facilitate their integration for as long as this situation lasts.

"The Foundation and the Club have been working from the outset to find the most effective way to help the refugee population of Ukraine. We have been in permanent contact with organisations specialised in humanitarian aid and, given the current situation and in agreement with the Ukrainian authorities in Catalonia, we believe that our aid will be more effective if it is channelled through Cre Roja. This is an organisation that we work with regularly and who have the necessary equipment and logistics to ensure that this aid arrives safely to the Ukrainian population that has been arriving in Catalonia, which is now in the thousands, and who need all the support we can provide".

 “FC Barcelona's solidarity, which we have been channeling through the Foundation, needs to be responsible and to reach those most in need in the best possible way. For this reason, it's now time to carry out these actions with the community arriving in Catalonia, especially mothers with babies and very young children. But we will continue to work on future initiatives to continue helping the Ukrainian people during these difficult times”. 

"Creu Roja maintains a historic alliance with FC Barcelona and the Foundation, which has always been strengthened in emergency situations and humanitarian crises, such as this crisis in the Ukraine. For years, we have also carried out very important awareness-raising advocacy actions, especially among children and young people, about welcoming refugee populations to our home.

With this new commitment, the Foundation, the Club and its entire social mass once again stand alongside Creu Roja in order to welcome the Ukrainian refugee community that we are already welcoming in Catalonia."