Thanks to the involvement of club members, the Robot Pol programme has been able to continue despite the pandemic

Thanks to the volunteering project in association with the Social Area and AJB, the Paediatric Wellbeing Programme remains active in times of pandemic

Putting a smile on a sick boy’s face or helping a girl to overcome a difficult situation through sport are the kind of things that help make the idea of being More than a Club real. Every day, Barça members are working as volunteers on the Barça Foundation’s Pediatric Wellbeing and Social Inclusion programmes, a volunteering project that started in the 2016/17 season in association with the FC Barcelona Social Area and the Barça Players Group.

“Being more than a club and feeling identified with a way of living and acting” are two of the aspects highlighted by Carles Franch, an FC Barcelona member who is also a volunteer on the Barça Foundation’s Pediatric Wellbeing programme. 

"Barça has given me the chance to help and take notice of children” he says in a video together with Aitor, a boy at Vall d’Hebron Hospital who he took on the Camp Nou Experience tour so that the young patient could explore various parts of the stadium from his hospital bed. In these recent months of pandemic, the Barça Museum has been closed to everyone part from such actions, run by the Foundation thanks to the courage, kindness and commitment of Barça volunteers. 

Carles studied Humanities and Business Studies, and his concern for children typifies the empathy and sensitivity shared by all of the volunteers. “When you see a child suffering from an illness” he says, “the fullness you get from giving them a moment of joy is enormous. It totally fulfils me.”

Thanks to the volunteers who form part of this project, in these two years a total of 110 children have been able to stop worrying about their illnesses for a while and experience positive emotions instead. For both FC Barcelona and its Foundation, the volunteers are highly appreciated and deemed a very important part of the organisation. 

The Robot Pol programme, on which a large number of the volunteers are working, began in 2017 as part of a joint venture with the Abidal Foundation and the Awabot company, which created this device whereby sick children are able to visit the Barça Museum.
 

“Volunteering is an important factor for personal development, but it is also an essential driver of social change. It is through others that we become who we are.  If it wasn’t for the willingness and energy of our volunteers, it would be impossible for us to do what we do. Volunteering consolidates social cohesion and the confidence to promote individual and group actions for people through people.”