Banco Santander and its employees  have allocated nearly 200,000 euros through the “Euros From Your Salary' programme” to different projects seeking the full inclusion of people with Down Syndrome.

This support includes initiatives such as collaboration with professionals with intellectual disabilities in the field of technology or "LaLiga Genuine Santander" scholarships for disabled soccer players.

In addition, the Group is committed to diversity within its teams as a key factor in innovation, growth and competitiveness with the integration of trainees with disability.

According to data from DOWN Spain, it is estimated that about 34,000 people with the Down Syndrome live in Spain while there are a total of 6 million worldwide. The estimated incidence of Down syndrome is between 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 1, 1,100 live births worldwide. Estimates indicate that between 30% and 40% of people with intellectual disabilities have Down Syndrome. The life expectancy of a person with Down Syndrome has increased considerably over the last few years and now stands at around 60 years of age. Today, March 21st, the World Down Syndrome Day takes place.

Since the launch of the Euros From Your Salary programme in 2006, the Bank and its employees have allocated nearly 200,000 euros to support several projects related to the inclusion of people with the Down Syndrome in many different areas.

Some of them are focus on labor inclusion. The Prodis Foundation, for example, was able to give specialized training and to launch a master's degree for the provision of business services to promote access to the labor market for young people with intellectual disabilities thanks to the support of Santander and its employees. Ademo Foundation was able to develop an employment and training program for people with intellectual disabilities. Supporting the Down Syndrome Foundation Madrid allowed to bring ICTs closer to people with the Down Syndrome, while thanks to the collaboration of the Bank and its employees, the Gil Gayarre Foundation launched its "Good Old Age" project to promote that people with intellectual disabilities in the aging process have full, active and healthy lives.

Adding to the projects financed through the programme is the Group’s collaboration for over 15 years with Down Madrid in different technological projects: computer classrooms, research projects for the adaptation of people with disabilities to the use  new technologies, and recycling of technological material, such as laptops and telephones, which the Group formats and resets with the help of professionals with intellectual disabilities.

The initiative wich represents the Universia Foundation promoted by Santander Bank and LaLiga Foundation is also of great relevance. Through its programme of 'LaLiga Genuine Santander' Scholarships it supports the academic training of LaLiga Genuine Santander players, made up of 36 teams integrated by people with intellectual disabilities.

The Group also supports some projects in collaboration with Universities, such as the Achalay Foundation Lyceum Project, which benefits from the collaboration of the Complutense University, or the training program promoted by the Universia Foundation and the University of A Coruña in personal, social and basic skills for employability and promotion of the labor inclusion of young people with cognitive disabilities

Finally, Santander is also committed to diversity in its own teams as a key factor for innovation, growth and competitiveness. In this sense, within the framework of its BeYourself program, Santander has reinforced the recruitment of trainees with disabilities, some of whom are already integrated into the workforce. To make this commitment visible, Santander held the Disability Week in December 2019, with workshops, talks, conferences and where the Group's employees with disabilities played a key role.

All these collaborations and initiatives are framed within the firm commitment of Banco Santander to contribute to a sustainable and inclusive growth in which no one is left behind.