FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE announces the winners of the 2014 Social Awards

FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE has announced the winners of its 2014 Social Awards. The winners are the tenor Placido Domingo, the Colores de Calcuta Foundation, Cardiac Risk in the Young and the Youth Capacity Development Programme.

These international prizes recognize people and institutions that have made outstanding contributions for the benefit of society in the scientific, cultural and social fields. The prize money for each of these awards is 30,000 euros and they will be given out on Thursday, June 18 at a ceremony chaired by Her Majesty Queen Sofía to be held at the Casino of Madrid.

This year there were over 450 nominations.

Placido Domingo has been awarded the José Manuel Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award. Placido Domingo, born in Madrid in 1941, is a Spanish tenor, orchestra conductor, producer and composer.

He is an international figure of the lyric arts with over 56 years of experience as a singer, and more than 40 as a conductor, and he is currently the Director of the National Opera of Washington and of the Los Angeles Opera (California).

The award celebrates his dedication to his professional activity, his boundless energy, personal involvement in the discovery and promotion of young talent and his capacity to collaborate selflessly in many social causes.

The Award for the Best Social Action Initiative was given to the “Comprehensive health care program in the Pilkhana neighbourhood in Calcutta,” a project by the Colores de Calcuta Foundation. Fundacion Mapfre values the social contribution of this project which looks after the most disadvantaged social groups in India, mainly young people and women.

The aim of the project is to reduce malnutrition among young people, mitigate their mortality rate and improve their health. The organization has opened pediatric offices, promotes vaccination campaigns and performs surgical operations.

Cardiac Risk in the Young was given the “Award for the Best Health Promotion Initiave.” CRY is a UK- based organization dedicated to the research and prevention of cardiovascular disease. It supports research into the diseases that predispose people to a cardiac arrest, has provided material resources to cardiac units, and has funded the Cardiac Pathology Center and the CRY Center for Hereditary Heart Disease and Sports Cardiology. In recent years it has saved the lives of many young people who could have suffered an episode of sudden cardiac death.

The Award for the Best Road Prevention and Safety Initiative was awarded to the Youth Capacity Development Program by Youth for Road Safety which is based in Holland. The aim of this program is to increase awareness among young people of the importance of road safety, to encourage this group of people to participate actively in actions designed to prevent accidents, and to develop their skills to implement best practices in this area.

The organization conducts its activity through conferences, events and other informative initiatives organized all over the world with the aim of training young people, primarily under the age of 25 years, who are the main victims of road accidents, to prevent this type of incidents.

FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE is a non-profit institution which was created in 1979 by Mapfre. Local Insurance company Mapfre Middlesea is a member of the Mapfre Group.

For more information you can visit www.fundacionmapfre.org