More than 20 OHL volunteers set to accompany young people with intellectual disabilities on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage

For the seventh year in a row, 21 OHL volunteers will accompany a group of young people with Down syndrome, during the last two stages of the Camino de Santiago -the Way of St. James- pilgrimage (Pedrouzo-Lavacolla and Lavacolla-Santiago de Compostela), between the 13th and the 16th of July. The OHL Volunteers are participating in this initiative, promoted by Down Madrid, in conjunction with Fundación Adecco. 

A group of 16 young people with Down syndrome or other intellectual disabilities will make their pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (Corunna) together with their counselors during the 113 kilometers between Sarria and the capital of Galicia. The young pilgrims will walk a total of nine stages, until they reach the finish line in Santiago de Compostela. On the last two stages of the pilgrimage (Pedrouzo-Lavacolla  and Lavacolla-Santiago de Compostela), 21 OHL Group volunteers will accompany this group of young people up to their arrival at the Cathedral, on the 15th of July, and will participate together with them and their families in a number of activities.

The main purpose of this initiative is to offer leisure time and sports alternatives designed for people with disabilities and their families, strengthening their abilities and skills for interrelating and developing their capacity of understanding and expression, in addition to improving their autonomy. 

Likewise, these days together will serve to raise the awareness of the OHL employees in terms of furthering the social and labor market integration of people with disabilities, eliminating stereotypes and social barriers and generating dialog, creating opinion and conveying social values to the volunteers.

OHL Volunteers celebrates its 10th birthday

This year’s Camino de Santiago pilgrimage coincides with the celebration of the  tenth anniversary of the OHL Volunteers program, an initiative articulated through the Group’s Corporate Community Involvement Plan and Corporate Social Responsibility Strategic Plan in which, over the years, close to 6,500 employees have participated, collaborating with 150 entities. Together they have driven more than 150 initiatives benefiting more than 20,000 people.

At the present time, OHL Volunteers’ membership is made up by more than 400 workers in Spain and Mexico. Moreover, the Group carries out corporate volunteering activities on specific occasions in the U.S., Canada, Chile, Peru and Colombia.

Previous edition of Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in which OHL Volunteers accompanied a group of young people with Down syndrome.