Spain: Aldeas Infantiles SOS and Aviva organise a children’s day hosted by Pedro Duque

18 May, 2011

• The Spanish astronaut shares his experiences in space with the children of the Children’s Village named Aldea de San Lorenzo of El Escorial

Aldeas Infantiles SOS and Aviva, the major European life insurance and pensions group, have organised a day for the children and young adults of the Organisation’s Aldea Infantil SOS (Children’s Village) in Madrid, in the town of San Lorenzo of El Escorial. The activity was hosted by Pedro Duque, the major Spanish astronaut who has been collaborating with the company in various conferences over this year.

In this sense, the astronaut shared with almost 100 children of the Village and with Aviva employees, all his experiences in space as well as the challenges he has faced, and the spirit of overcoming them throughout his professional career. Also, Pedro Duque signed a copy of his book "Universo Sin Límites" (Universe Without Limits) for all the children, in an exclusive edition for Aviva.

According to his declarations: “It has been a unique experience to share my experiences with such a special public and seek out their questions and curiosity about space.”

This day was set within the collaboration agreement signed between Aviva and Aldeas Infantiles SOS, the objective of which is to drive forward the development and autonomy of these children, by means of acceptance, prevention, and the strengthening of their family and social networks. Thus, as Constructor of the Future, Aviva contributes to maintaining one of the eight Villages in Spain.

According to Ana Sanz, CSR manager of Aviva: “We wish to express our admiration for the work developed by Aldeas Infantiles SOS. On the other hand, we are grateful to be able to be part of this project and for the involvement of Pedro Duque, since the objective of this activity is that the children should welcome the first Spanish astronaut in their own home to enjoy a unique evening.”

On her part, Beatriz Revuelta, director of the Village of Madrid, described the day as: “A gift that will be hard to forget for all the children, when they were able to act as hosts and bring their concerns and personalities to a character that they admire.”

Information on the agreement with Aldeas Infantiles

As well as the participation of Aviva as Constructor of the Future, the resources contributed by Aviva can be allocated to any of the 90 programmes and SOS centres for prevention and social and employment integration that the NGO develops over the whole of the national territory. Also, the agreement covers another form of collaboration, corporate volunteering, the purpose of which is to mobilise the talent of the Aviva payroll in favour of social development.

Ignacio Izquierdo, managing director of Aviva, has affirmed that: “Aldeas Infantiles SOS has well accredited its good work by providing protection and opportunities to thousands of children and young adults over its more than 60 years of history. This NGO reflects many of the values of responsibility and commitments that our company has undertaken and wishes to transmit to society, so we shall do everything in our power to collaborate in the achievement of its objectives.”

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For further information:
Beatriz Egido Requejo
Telephone: +34 915 560 154
Email: rbeatriz.egido@edelman.com

Laura Villuendas
Telephone: +34 912 971 817 / +34 696 576 921
Email: laura.villuendas@aviva.es

Notes to editors:

Aviva
Aviva is the sixth insurance group in the world, and leader in the international market of insurance and long-term savings products. In Europe, it is the leader in life insurance and pensions.

In Spain, Aviva is one of the leaders in the life insurance and pensions sector. It trades its products through professional brokers (Aviva Vida y Pensiones) and by means of strategic alliances with some of the major Spanish savings banks (Bancaja, Caixa Galicia, Unicaja, Caja España, CajaGranada and Cajamurcia) www.aviva.es.

Aldeas Infantiles SOS
The mission of Aldeas Infantiles SOS is to care for children and young adults who are in situations of vulnerability, in order to bring forward their development and autonomy, by means of acceptance and prevention, and the strengthening of their family and social networks.

It is the largest private organisation for direct childcare in the world. It is non-profit-making, independent of any political or religious orientation, and has been present in 132 countries for more than 60 years.

Aldeas Infantiles SOS de España has 8 Villages in our country: Barcelona, Pontevedra, Madrid, Granada, Cuenca, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Zaragoza and Las Palmas, and it finances 15 Villages in Latin America and one in Africa. There is currently a total of 14,620 children and young adults cared for by Aldeas Infantiles SOS in Spain.