Social Justice
Ferrer wants to contribute to a fairer, more equitable society in which everyone has access to the same opportunities
Ferrer wishes to contribute to a fairer, more equitable society in which everyone has access to the same opportunities. Ferrer's Social Justice strategy, developed around this aspiration, seeks to support people in vulnerable situations; contribute to equal opportunities; and promote employability, access to health, food and education.
Employability
Our objective is to create social and economic value through different initiatives in which we accompany key groups. We will conduct projects to improve social and occupational inclusion among vulnerable groups, involve our stakeholders to inspire them with our purpose and promote entrepreneurial projects with the potential to have a substantial social impact.
Access to Health
Our objective is to address the social dimension of the diseases in Ferrer's key treatment areas to reduce the impact of these diseases on patients and improve their well-being and quality of life.
Food
Our objective is to bring food security to groups in vulnerable situations by delivering healthy meals prepared with food grown in sustainable gardens. This area of action includes the Green for Good and Ferrer for Food projects conducted by the Ferrer Sustainability Foundation.
Education
Our objective is to support boys and girls at risk of social exclusion through educational programmes to prevent them from dropping out of school and enhance their educational development. Through the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation, we conduct numerous projects with which we create equal opportunities for boys and girls through music education.
In 2021 alone, we dedicated 61.4% of our profits to projects in different sectors.
In addition, Ferrer has two foundations through which we fulfil our purpose of having a positive impact on society:
Ferrer Sustainability Foundation
The Ferrer Sustainability Foundation was created in response to social need perceived by Ferrer in its community. It aims to achieve a more equitable and just society through three strategic pillars: social cohesion, economic progress and environmental preservation.
Along these lines, as part of Ferrer's new Social Justice strategy, the company will support people in vulnerable situations in realities in which Ferrer can provide added value to facilitate their access to development opportunities. The areas of action will be centred on food and training.
Through awareness-raising, training, innovation and alliances with key players, we will seek to improve the well-being of people in vulnerable situations and thus improve our social impact on our environment.The most significant current projects in strategic fields of action for Ferrer and its associated foundations are:
Green for Good
A project for social inclusion of people in vulnerable situations through gardening and cooking. The initiative takes place on land on which biodynamic agriculture and permaculture are practised, where the agricultural value chain is recovered from the production of seeds on that land. A project to open a school/workshop in order to train and empower these people has been proposed as the next challenge.
Ferrer for Food
A soup kitchen in Vilassar de Dalt that supports people in vulnerable situations by providing complete and healthy meals distributed through social entities. The project uses the vegetables harvested by the Green for Good project and the Foundation's garden in Sant Pol de Mar. At the same time, the project collaborates closely with environmentally sustainable local producers and entities dedicated to preventing food waste. The goal of the project is to provide 3,000 meals a day to groups in vulnerable situations.
Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation
At Ferrer, we understand that culture is an essential element of quality of life and general well-being for both people and communities. We believe in music education in particular as a vector for social cohesion. In order to promote efforts in this vein, we have a roadmap with which we wish to contribute to a committed social model.
The Foundation is organised around four main pillars, all conceived as different ways to achieve the same goal: to promote music as a service to society. Through the pursuit of artistic excellence, the democratisation of music education and support for original work and research, the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation works every day to further the power of music.
Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation: Empowering young people through music since 1982.
Queen Sofía Composition Prize
Awarded annually since 1983, the Queen Sofía Composition Prize is intended to encourage the creation of symphony orchestra works, based on the belief that our composers' music deserves to be performed, listened to and made known. The winning work is chosen by a prestigious international jury, commemorated by Her Majesty Queen Sofía and performed by the most important orchestra in Spain. The award entails not only recognition of the work but also a sum of €100,000 given to its composer to ensure its viability.
Musical excellence programme
The Ferrer-Salat Foundation seeks to promote the musical talent of tomorrow by investing in the young people who are training today. To do this, it sponsors various projects in collaboration with the prestigious Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu [Liceu Higher Conservatory of Music]. These projects include Ferrer-Salat Scholarships, intended to cover the costs of the four years of their bachelor's degree, as well as 12 excellence scholarships for students who are already studying at the institution. The programme also includes the Liceu Jazz and Liceu Cambra Masterclasses & Concerts cycles, where students share the stage with leading names on the current music scene.
Social inclusion programme
The Primary Music Education project, borne of Ferrer's conviction that music education is a fundamental tool for social inclusion and cohesion, was created to also ensure and promote music education in schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods where children are at risk of social exclusion and may not have opportunities for musical education. During the 2019-2020 academic year, a total of 459 students began the programme, and 59 of them obtained a scholarship to begin basic training in the alto saxophone, clarinet, trombone or euphonium in the 2020-2021 academic year.
Research programme
The research programme, our most recent project, grew out of an aspiration to explore the power of music and determine the true impact of music education on one of the most vulnerable groups: children with neurodevelopmental disorders.