The vice-counselor of Social Services and Benefits, Guadalupe Martín, signed a agreement on Tuesday with the president of the Social Third Sector Table of Castilla-La Mancha, José Antonio Romero, for the funding of the Table’s structures, amounting to 460,000 euros — a similar amount to previous years — for this year.
After the signing, Martín emphasized that the Third Sector Table is a «very important pillar of social participation in the region,» serving as «the representative voice and interlocutor of important sectors» of entities within the disability field such as ONCE, the Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (Cermi), the European Network for the Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion, Red Cross, the Platform of Children’s Organizations in C-LM, the coordinator of NGDO in CLM, and the Association of Castilla-La Mancha for residences and services for the elderly (Acescam).
With the renewal of the agreement, «we advance in the cohesion, promotion, and consolidation of the Third Sector of Castilla-La Mancha and reaffirm our commitment» from the regional president, Emiliano García-Page, for the third consecutive year with this direct grant to the Third Sector Table, ensuring the «viability» of the associated entities, she noted.
The director general, highlighting that Castilla-La Mancha is the region maintaining an agreement of «greater amount» for the sustainability of the Third Sector Table, also pointed out that, to date, all calls dependent on the Ministry of Social Welfare «have been advanced in a timely manner,» thereby fulfilling «the objective of offering end users actions with continuity and security in their execution.»
Likewise, she emphasized that the most important calls have been resolved and, for the most part, have been paid, as those with an annual payment have already been made or are in the process of being paid «immediately.» «Civil society is strengthened with the signing of this agreement,» she summarized.
PERSONNEL AND OPERATION
On the other hand, the president of the Social Third Sector Table of Castilla-La Mancha assured that this agreement «helps to consolidate» the institutional recognition granted to the Table by the Third Sector Law, with financial aid reflected in the regional budgets, which he appreciated.
The money, as he detailed, is intended to maintain the basic structure of staff and operation of the five fundamental platforms of the Table, such as the European Network for the Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion, the Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities, the Platform of Children’s Organizations in CLM, the coordinator of NGDO in CLM, as well as the structure of the Table itself.
As he indicated, with this funding, over 1,200 legal consultations in the field of disability have been addressed, around thirty direct actions in workshops for people in situations of social exclusion have been carried out, reports on poverty monitoring in the region have been produced, training, information, and advice channels have been established for associations working in the field of childhood, as well as addressing all issues that arise in the field of administration «as another social actor.»
José Antonio Romero highlighted the «important work» carried out by associations in 2024, such as strengthening the campaign for the ‘X’ in the income tax return, whose collection for the next fiscal year «has increased significantly,» also in Castilla-La Mancha; or the work undertaken after the storm, where organizations were and «continue to be there.»
The Third Sector Table of Castilla-La Mancha is composed of the National Organization of Spanish Blind People (ONCE); the Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities, the European Network for the Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion, Red Cross, the Platform of Children’s Organizations in C-LM, the coordinator of NGDO in CLM, and the Association of Castilla-La Mancha for residences and services for the elderly (Acescam).