The document summarizes a visit by European Volunteer Department referents to the Colmenar Viejo Local Office of the Spanish Red Cross in Madrid. It provides an agenda for the visit including an overview of the office's facilities and programs. It discusses the office's history of growth from an ambulance service to broader services. It highlights the office's philosophy of being driven by volunteers and their commitment to continued growth, professionalization, and adapting to community needs.

1. European Volunteer Dept. Referents Meeting
Visit to Colmenar Viejo Local Office
Spain, Madrid, Colmenar Viejo. 4th of June, 2009
The history of our Local Office is the story of our
volunteer´s tenacity and hard work
Spanish Red Cross. Colmenar Viejo Local Office (Madrid). 4th of June, 2009 1
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2. Agenda
15.30h. Welcome, introduction and agenda
15.45h. Visit to facilities + coffee break
16.15h. Cruz Roja Española Colmenar Viejo
– Who we are and what we want to be
– What we do and how we do it
• Volunteers and staff
• Associational life
• Participation beyond our boundaries
– Our thoughts and our requests
17.15h. Visit to our CRE CV Sports School for Integration
17.45h. Closing and farewell
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3. Who is with you today
• Marcos Eguillor
– 32, Volunteer since 1996. Telco Engineer (MSc), executive MBA
– Emergency Medical Services (instructor), Public Relations and Media (former head of dept.),
ERU Telecom & IT
– Member of the Local Committee
• Emilio Prada
– 27, Volunteer since 1999. Professional Emergency Medical Technician, Telecommunications
student
– Emergency Medical Services, Coordination Centre, Elderly people
– Technical support to management
• Who else:
– Christian Rebner. President of Cruz Roja Española Colmenar Viejo
– Antonio Ruíz. First Vicepresident and Secretary of the Local Committee
– Carlos Sixto. Technical Director
– Ana Belén Colmenarejo. City Councillor for Sport´s Issues
Spanish Red Cross. Colmenar Viejo Local Office (Madrid). 4th of June, 2009 3
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4. Our facilities
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5. First, what is a Local Office?
IFCR Spanish Red Cross Autonomic Office Provincial Office (Regional Office) Local Office
• Local representation and deployment of the
global (Spanish) Red Cross principles and strategy
Usually located in the major town in area
• With an eight members Local Committee
governing body
Elected by its volunteers and affiliates and lead by a
President appointed by the Autonomic President
• Somehow autonomous in decisions, activities and
budget
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6. Colmenar Viejo and surrounding towns grow steadily
and require not only welfare but basic services as well,
due to rocketing immigration and the economic crisis
• 75.000 citizens in the area
• Colmenar Viejo
– 44.000 citizens (+10% compared to 2005)
– 50% sex split
– 51% < 25 years old
– 7.800 immigrants (18%)
Spain Madrid
800 Local Offices 23 Local Offices
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7. That is served by a set of highly qualified professionals
that are driving exponential growth across all figures
thanks to their frenetic activity
1975 •EMS Ambulance service
•Volunteers, soldiers
1980 •Local Office
•Conscientious objectors
1985
•Cruz Roja Juventud
1990
1995
FIGURES 2005 E2009 Variation
2000 Budget: Profit 93.500 € 346.000 € 370%
Budget: Loss 86.000 € 333.000 € 387%
2001
Affiliates 729 1.455 200%
2002 •Volunteer Dept., Fundraising,
Donors, Immigration, Training Volunteers 60 277 462%
2003 Staff 1 7 700%
2004 Ratio Staff / Volunteers 1,67% 2,53% 152%
•New HQ, start hiring staff
2005 Beneficiaries 1.500 4.400 293%
•Environment, PR and Media, Sports
2006 School, Cooperation, Gender Violence, Projects 13 40 308%
Scholar Support, Employment, Cyber
2007 education
2008
•New office for Social Programmes
What is NEXT?
2009 •Technical Director
– Reduce external economic dependence
– Change to a sustainable organic growth model (budget, structure, activities)
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8. Heads of Department are heavily involved in
horizontal governance and day to day
decision making
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9. With our own philosophy
and leit-motif
Volunteers drive
Staff provide support; they have been (are) volunteers previously
Participation
Confidence
•You have a
Hard work •Self
proposal: do it
Make it happen achievement
•You lead it, the
•Personal
team will support
growth
you
Regeneration. Alpha´s will be future Local Committee
Management is key
•All heads of department are volunteers and most, members of the Local Committee
•Huge personal implication, pulling from the rest of the volunteers
•Education, experience and skills; Plan, do, check, act
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10. How do we live Cruz Roja?
Associational life
– Fiacolatta
– FACE (First Aid Convention in Europe)
– Regional Autumn and Summer Schools (CRJ, Volunteer Dept.)
Working beyond our boundaries
– Local reach
• Municipal Volunteering Journeys, Immigration Forum, International Cooperation Forum
• Municipal Council for Youth Issues
• Municipal Office for Gender Violence
• Exchange and collaboration activities with other agencies and associations
– Regional reach
• Autonomic Red Cross Congresses
• Red Cross Quality Commissions (training, EMS, etc.)
– National reach
• National Red Cross Congresses
• ERIE (Equipo de Respuesta Inmediata en Emergencia); Temporary shelter and lodging, Relief, Rescue
& Emergency Medical Services, Psychological support, Telecommunications
– International reach
• ERU (Emergency Response Unit); Telecommunications & IT, Water Sanitization
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11. Chatting with one of our
volunteers
• Jaime Martínez
– 35, volunteer since 2007. MSc in History, Schoolteacher
– Immigration and school support
• Joined because of a solidarity feeling with the surrounding, triggered by a
friend who is co-operant
• The best of the Red Cross: institutional support and variety of activities to
choose from
• The worst of the Red Cross: is that overwhelmingly big that it sometimes
works too slow and with little dynamism (“civil servants”)
Three questions Referents would like to ask
…and three questions that should be answered
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12. Our mandate for you;
What we would like you took home
Our worries
– Economic constraints; dependence from subsidies and fundraising
– Education and professionalism
– Remunerate vs. volunteering
– Having seniors as volunteers and not as beneficiaries
– Regeneration
Our view
– Red Cross´ assistance is experienced in the field thanks to VOLUNTEERS; we need them to be
professionals
– Society changes; we need to change and adapt to new circumstances and NEW WAYS FORWARD
Our requests
– MAKE OUR VOLUNTEERS aware, available, professional, demanding, proactive, effective and efficient and
reserve prominent places for them to decide/drive/act and participate
– SUPPORT LOCAL OFFICES; they need professional management, autonomy, creativity and proactivity
This principles have allowed us to make our own “miracle”; from an EMS ambulance service to a full scale
deployment in 5 years time
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
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13. Visit to our
CRE CV Sports School for Integration
What you´re going to see: Escuelas Deportivas
– Since 2005, pioneer project at the Spanish Red Cross
– 2008, taken over the Sports Schools of Colmenar Viejo
– Objectives:
• Promotion of healthy and safe leisure time
• Integration of cultures
• Additional training and value education based on the Principles of the Red
Cross
– Activities: swimming classes, futsal, volleyball
– Beneficiaries: +200 aged 6-18. For free (affiliation, sport garments,
transport, additional activites)
– Staff: +10 volunteer instructors, coaches and assistants; some of them
also beneficiaries of the CRJ activities (elder stages) + one volunteer
from the Down Syndrome Foundation
– Annual budget: 5.300€. Sponsored by private companies
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14. Thank you very much for you visit!!
Only those who are crazy enough to think
that they can change the world, will!
-Henry Dunant
Cruz Roja Española
Colmenar Viejo
info.colmenar@cruzroja.es
Spanish Red Cross. Colmenar Viejo Local Office (Madrid). 4th of June, 2009 14
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