How long have you been head of the entity?
I assumed the presidency in March 2023.
How did this opportunity introduce you?
When I was little, I attended all the events led by the foundation and adolescent attracted the issues related to solidarity. At the beginning of last year, I felt that both personally and professionally agreed and I proposed to reactivate the foundation, which I had in Standby from the pandemic, and thus start working on new projects that would excite me and, above all, that had a positive social impact.
New Presidency, new focus of the Foundation?
Both my father, Ramon Canela, as a founder, and my predecessors in office have made the spirit of the Foundation very powerful and have its own identity. Yes I would like to address more causes that improve the quality of life of children and the elderly. I believe that as a society we have a responsibility with them, since some have the future in their hands and others deserve to receive everything they have given.
What is the main axis of action of the institution?
The Dir Foundation generates resources through their own sports acts where our subscribers participate in order to allocate donations and other help to different associations with different leitmotiv.
How do you value the projects when deciding the fate of this support?
Throughout the year we received many requests from foundations and associations seeking to be the receiving entity of our actions. Several projects are placed on the table and the winner is chosen based on several criteria: the impact that our donation can have, the time that makes the application, the link that exists with the sport …
What does that professional challenge suppose for you?
Having this opportunity for me is very special and the challenge is to be able to allocate to the Foundation the time it deserves to make it grow, give visibility and build new links and collaborations with other entities.
What motivates you most as president?
The volume of donations that we generate through the sports acts of dir and how it grows year after year because that means we do things well. It also motivates me a lot to see the positive impact that sport has on society and be able to disseminate its benefits, and that is that physical exercise improves the quality of life of people: the better we work, the more health we produce, and that has a lot of value.
What assessment are you doing this period?
Very positive, since I have been able to meet wonderful projects we have supported. For example, the Guttmann Foundation and the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital have used our centers to monitor training in small working groups, as well as the Clinic Hospital has done it with children and adolescents with autism. We have contributed relevant donations to the AVENEM Autisme Association and the Special Olympics organization; We have broken the contribution record for the 3CAT maralat; We have given Cáritas technical clothes; We have collaborated with the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, the Sant Pau Hospital and the Carreras Foundation disseminating its purpose; We have trained prison technicians to give classes; We have been present in the race Move for multiple sclerosis …
What has been the most satisfactory moment to date?
The heart we do with the subscribers who turn 90, our heroes and heroines, to whom we give a VIP card so that they can train free of charge in our centers, always steal my heart. We celebrate that they have made sport a habit of their life and a need to be more vital. It is the event that most strengthens the impact of DIR on society and the reward of seeing more than 45 years of constant work.
What objectives do you set in these last months of the year?
We have several really exciting projects underway. Right now, we are closing an agreement with the Institut Guttmann Foundation to favor the rehabilitation of their patients through sport and we are also ending the 13th edition of the Pedaleja for the 3CAT marathon.