The BT Foundation launches an ICT-Volunteer Programme in Spain

The BT Foundation’s new internet portal will promote volunteering actions among BT Spain’s employees

BT has announced today that the BT Foundation has developed an innovative corporate Volunteer programme, which under the name “ICT Volunteering”, aims to promote BT Spain’s employees’ charitable actions and favour the integration and development of underprivileged communities, through the use of information and communications technologies.

In order to launch this initiative, BT has developed a new portal, www.fundacionbt.es, designed to provide information and manage BT’s employees’ collaboration in volunteering programmes where new technologies will be fundamental. Through the Foundation’s new portal, BT Spain’s employees will be able to find more information regarding the Foundation’s projects, or even make volunteering proposals which, in compliance with the Company’s values, may exist within their closest scope of action, within their province or Autonomous Community. In this way, the web page will be a very useful tool for the coordination and mutual enhancement of all BT Spain’s employees’ volunteering projects.

According to Luis Álvarez Satorre, President of the BT Foundation: “This portal intends to become the meeting point for BT’s employees’ solidarity actions and surfaces as a vehicle to meet our ambition of favouring the integration and development of underprivileged communities through the use of information and communications technologies”.

The BT Foundation’s ICT-Volunteer portal has been developed by the Chandra Foundation. This entity will be responsible for promoting BT’s staff’s collaboration through the web’s daily management.

Ever since its creation in 2006, the BT Foundation uses new technologies as a vehicle for helping socially underprivileged sectors, enabling technology to become a great catalyst for helping those communities that, because of their characteristics, require additional support for their integration in society. The BT Foundation’s work is performed through the collaboration of BT volunteers who participate in the various projects launched by the Foundation. BT volunteers contribute with their professional knowledge to increase the supportive impact of different social entities by getting involved in projects which help to improve daily life of those who need it most such as children in hospitals or facilitating labour and social integration to disabled and underprivileged people.

All of BT’s employees will be entitled to take time during their working hours to perform ICT-volunteer work in any of the projects sponsored by the BT Foundation. From more than 1,000 BT Spain’s employees, about 30 people are involved in the different BT Foundation’s ICT-volunteer projects. The BT Foundation’s ICT-Volunteer programme has more than 650 volunteer opportunities for BT’s employees at the time of its launching and is part of BT’s global volunteering programme.

Luis Álvarez adds: “through information and communications technologies we make the world in which we live in accessible to a great number of underprivileged people. I personally consider that few life experiences are so constructive and uplifting as having the opportunity to put our knowledge and skills at the service of those in need”.

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About Chandra Foundation
The Chandra Foundation (www.fundacionchandra.org) is an entity created in 1999 to facilitate the participation of non-profit organisations, individuals, companies and public institutions in development projects and social responsibility actions, by using Information and Communications Technologies. The Chandra Foundation promotes other consolidated projects in the Internet, such as CanalSolidario.org, Hacesfalta.org or SolucionesONG.org.

About BT Foundation
The BT Foundation aims to promote research and the use of the most modern technologies applicable to telecommunications and systems integration in Spain, collaborating in the full development of the Information Society, and focusing mainly on the use of telecommunications by sectors suffering from special needs.