The City Council of L'Hospitalet has launched the Xarxa d"Entitats de Voluntariat de L"H, a new network created to coordinate entities, share resources and promote the incorporation of new volunteers in the city. The presentation was held at the Centre de Transformació Digital La Florida 6.0, with the attendance of about 130 people.
The initiative has been unveiled in an event that coincides with the commemoration of the International Year of Volunteers in 2026. During the day, about twenty volunteers from 16 entities of L'Hospitalet have also been recognized.
A network to coordinate resources and expand volunteering
The network will initially have 16 associations of the city. Among them are Fundació La Vinya, Associació Cultura Tretze, Voluntaris amb Cor, Xarxa de Centres de Lleure Educatiu i Acció Social, Fundación No Somos Invisibles, Càritas Diocesana, Creu Roja, Associació Narinan, Associació Club d"Esplai Pubilla Cases i Can Vidalet, Federació Catalana de l"Esplai, Fundació Akwaba, Fundació ONCE, Azinnia and Associació Contra el Càncer.
The objective of this structure is to reinforce the joint work between organizations from diverse fields and facilitate a more coordinated response in the city's community fabric. L'Hospitalet is the second city in Cataluña in terms of the number of entities, with more than 300 organizations, a volume that places volunteering as one of the main axes of local associative life.
Institutional recognition of the social role of volunteering
"Volunteering is a key piece for the social cohesion of the city, and this network will allow us to join efforts, reach more people and reinforce the impact of community projects" - Laura García Manota, Deputy Mayor of the Area of City of Rights
The day also served to put the focus on the social dimension of this daily task. Mayor David Quirós defended that being a volunteer goes beyond a specific collaboration and linked it to a way of understanding coexistence, accompaniment, and community creation in daily life.
"Many times we are not sufficiently aware of the strength that all volunteer people have, working together to make a better city. Days like this help to visualize it" - Ramon Nicolau, president of the Federació Catalana de Voluntariat Social
Sixteen entities at the start of the initiative
During the meeting, one of the participating voices was that of Cristina Castillo, a member of Càritas, who emphasized the human bond generated by voluntary action and the personal return produced by accompanying vulnerable people.
"If you receive a little, you know how to return it and when you give support, affection and understanding to people, they become much more sociable. They return one hundred percent of what you give them" - Cristina Castillo, Càritas
About twenty volunteers from 16 entities received recognition in an event with which L'Hospitalet has wanted to make visible the weight of the local associative movement. The new Xarxa d"Entitats de Voluntariat de L"H starts with the will to consolidate that base and expand its reach in the coming months.