Valencia successfully hosted the 5th Sports Volunteering Week
High participation in this initiative that strengthens solidarity
Sport and volunteering teamed up again last week. From Thursday 19 to Saturday 22, Valencia was the host city for the 5th edition of Sports Volunteering Week, through a series of sessions that offered workshops, games and conferences for all ages.
As every year, the Spanish Volunteering Platform (PVE) organises a series of events that promote the values of volunteering and solidarity, using sport as the central axis of its action. For this edition, it has counted on the collaboration of the Levante UD Foundation, the Volunteering Platform of the Valencian Community and the Valencia City Council.
According to data from the Volunteering Observatory, there are currently 4.4 million volunteers in Spain. Of these, around 500,000 are involved in sports volunteering, mostly young people under 25. This is a particularly relevant age group, since 36% of those who are not currently volunteers intend to start volunteering next year (a figure much higher than in older age groups).
Mar Amate, director of the Spanish Volunteering Platform, stresses that this initiative is very important for the organisation. As she explains, from the platform “we are committed to promoting a culture of solidarity, which is an attitude that accompanies us and defines the way we look at the world.”
The director of the PVE also considers it “wonderful” to have the opportunity to “instil solidarity from childhood in a framework as healthy as sport.” Amate explains that working on these kinds of values within the family “provides very positive experiences that foster future commitments.”
For his part, Miquel Salvador, president of the Volunteering Platform of the Valencian Community, stated that this has been a great opportunity to highlight the strength of volunteering in Valencia, calling it “very positive” that space is given to “more forgotten” types of volunteering, such as sports volunteering, because of its power to attract people and its effectiveness as a tool to promote social cohesion, healthy habits and sustainable social development.
The support and collaboration of the Levante UD Foundation has been essential; it is an organisation that works for the inclusion of people with disabilities through sport. In this regard, the foundation’s director, Vicente Herrero, points out that sport is “the perfect tool” for developing social policies.
In addition, Vicente Herrero commented that sport must go hand in hand with the values of volunteering, since it is “a great integrative and socialising element,” capable of reinforcing autonomy from a very early age.
Activities for everyone
This year’s edition began on Wednesday 19 with the presentation of the programme at the Municipal Sports Foundation of Valencia. That same afternoon, awareness-raising workshops were held at the Ciutat de València Stadium, aimed at the Levante UD Boys’ and Girls’ Academy, where special emphasis was placed on promoting volunteering from the age of 12, as established by Law 4/2025 on volunteering in the Valencian Community.
On Thursday 20, a special day was held for social organisations, featuring round tables to share experiences, the presentation of the “SDG 16 and Sports Volunteering Guide” and a workshop on “Planning physical and sports activities to meet the 2030 Agenda.” Later, during Friday’s event, the IES Districte Marítima also hosted a series of activities of this kind designed for the school’s students.
Finally, the closing of this 5th edition took place on Saturday 22 with various recreational and sports activities at the Levante UD Sports City. Through cooperative and sporting games, solidarity was promoted through sport. Complementing these activities, a donation of sports equipment was made to the Orriols Convive futsal school for young people at risk of social exclusion.
Sports Volunteering Week has been held since 2021 as part of the “Valores en Juego” (Values in Play) programme, supported by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda, and developed since then by the Spanish Volunteering Platform.
