“Growing together”: the new project of Save the Children and Fondazione Reggio Children with the support of the Gruppo Credem

"Growing together" is the new project of Save the Children, realized with Fondazione Reggio Children - Centro Internazionale Malaguzzi, thanks to the will and support of the Gruppo Credem, with the aim of combating the educational poverty of children from 0 to 6 years. The project is part of the wider Save the Children’s program Spazio Mamme which, since 2014, has been dealing with supporting families in situations of socio-economic vulnerability throughout Italy.  

"Growing Together" will expand the many activities already present in the Spazi Mamme of Save the Children, through a quality educational path designed with innovative approaches, starting at first from 7 Italian cities: Genoa, Rome, Naples, Palermo, San Luca, Brindisi and Sassari. In addition, 2 spaces - Sassari and Palermo - will be renovated. 

The pandemic has had a severe impact on children, particularly those in the 0-6 age group and their access to fundamental opportunities for personal growth and the acquisition of fundamental skills. In 2021 alone, in fact, absolute poverty concerned 1 million and 382 thousand children in our Country, 14.2%, growing compared to 2020 (13.5%), a condition that has hit harder on children and adolescents. 

In Italy, because of Covid, 876 thousand children in kindergarten (3-6 years) had to deal with discontinuity and fragmentation at the very beginning of their educational path. In addition, in the most disadvantaged Italian provinces, where the greatest number of students live in conditions of socioeconomic disadvantage, only 5% of children have access to a public kindergarten, compared to 24.5% of those with the highest number of students of high socio-economic level. 

Gruppo Credem, in continuity with recent years projects, has expanded its commitment to fighting educational poverty and inequalities that affect the growth of children from early childhood, encouraging the meeting between Save the Children, the Organization that for over 100 years has been fighting to save children at risk and guarantee them a future, and the Fondazione Reggio Children, active in the field of research, solidarity and quality education. 

Thanks to the project "Growing Together", the quality educational offer of the Spazio Mamme is enriched with new workshop experiences aimed at girls, boys and their families defined according to the diverse needs of each territory. There will be, for example, workshops on recycling, sustainability, taste, nature and digital or the rediscovery of the earth. 

Maurizio Giglioli, marketing director of Credem Banca states: "Gruppo Credem has been supporting Save the Children for 19 years to ensure a better future for vulnerable children. We have supported several educational projects, first abroad and then in Italy, achieving important results such as the construction of schools in Congo and Ethiopia and we were the first to support the development of Punti Luce, the educational centres of the Organization to fight educational poverty and aimed at children between 6 and 17 years". 

"With the "Growing Together" project we want to continue to support the most fragile children, especially in an overly complicated economic scenario, and their families expanding our intervention to the age group 0 - 6 years - continues Giglioli - To do so, we have brought together two prestigious realities active in the world of child education such as Save the Children and Reggio Children Foundation. 

Thanks to this productive collaboration, we will be able to offer new quality educational paths that have the aim of generating value not only for the parties involved, but also for the areas in which we will intervene. For Credem this also means Wellbanking, working for the welfare of the communities in which we operate". 

"For many years, the fight against educational poverty has been one of our main goals - says Giancarla Pancione, Director of Marketing and Fundraising of Save the Children Italy - Our projects on local realities, aim to combat all forms of inequality that prevent every child from exploring and implementing their potential, providing opportunities and tools to have a better future. Educational poverty is not an irreversible condition, but without interventions aimed at early childhood care and education and policies of welfare and support for parenthood, can become a vicious circle in which inequalities are transmitted from generation to generation. Breaking this spiral is the job of us adults". 

"The regeneration of a community can be born around the pivotal role of childhood - says Carla Rinaldi, president of the Fondazione Reggio Children – Centro Loris Malaguzzi - This is also the aim of the new paths to the Spazio Mamme with Save the Children and the Gruppo Credem. Educational poverty concerns not only families, but communities, and it is defeated together. Centrality of childhood means giving opportunities to the golden age of the person to express themselves in quality contexts and to make children, mothers and families, protagonists of the dialogue relationship with a welcoming community". 

The new "Growing Together" workshops, where parents and children will work side by side, will be proposed in the form of paths, consisting of a dozen meetings for each space, focused on specific themes for each territory as sustainability, nature and digital, play and learning, food and nutrition and will go alongside the activities of the Spazi Mamme. The different themes will also be addressed through the use of natural materials, recycled materials, digital instrumentation, in spaces that will be rearranged with a view to learning contexts conducive to accommodating the research of both children and adults. The Spazi Mamme of Palermo and Sassari will also see a requalification and a refurbishment of the interior with a view to comfort, hospitality and a better performance of activities. 

Save the Children’s Spazio Mamme program was created to combat child poverty and prevent the phenomenon of educational poverty, through support to new parents and parents during the most important stages of the growth of their children. Spazio Mamme promotes the inclusion of children between 0 and 6 years who live in a situation of marginality or who come from the most vulnerable contexts, allowing them to have at their disposal the appropriate tools at every stage of their growth also through personalized support paths for parents. The Spazio Mamme is the space of care where you can meet and discuss to reduce worries and exchange opinions and suggestions.  

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