The Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona and the AVAN Foundation sign a collaboration agreement

• With this agreement, the CZFB will help to materialize the ‘Petit AVAN’ space, the new reference centre in the field of neurology in Terrassa, which will offer a specific therapeutic and accompaniment space for children, adolescents and their families.

• The agreement was formalised by the special delegate of the State in the CZFB, Pere Navarro, and the president of the private AVAN Foundation, Cristina Urriza, at the facilities of DFactory Barcelona.

 Barcelona, April 30, 2024.- The Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB) and the AVAN Foundation have signed a collaboration agreement for the materialization of the new ‘Petit AVAN’, a therapeutic and accompaniment space for children and young people suffering from neurological diseases and their families. This agreement was reached during a meeting held between the special delegate of the State in the CZFB, Pere Navarro, and the president of the AVAN private Foundation, Cristina Urriza, at the DFactory Barcelona facilities.

The aim of the agreement is the support of the CZFB to put into operation the ‘Petit AVAN’, the new reference space in the field of neurology in Terrassa that will offer neurorehabilitation services, awareness, dissemination and help to children, teens and their families. The project consists of the adaptation of the Pont Aurell Armengol industrial warehouse, ceded by the Terrassa City Council, and which is expected to be able to serve around 60 children per year. This new space, of 150 m², will have differential characteristics from the rest of the AVAN facilities, and will have a gym and a climbing wall equipped with specific material for neurorehabilitation, physiotherapy and specific occupational therapy for children and young people; an office for psychology and neuropsychology; as well as an office for speech therapy.

The AVAN Private Foundation is a non-profit organisation that offers therapeutic, associative and leisure support to people affected by a neurological disease, their families or carers, to improve their quality of life. Among the diseases they treat are Alzheimer, Parkinson, stroke, traumatic brain injury, Lewy bodies, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, among others. Its services also include prevention, awareness-raising and dissemination to the entire population.

It should be noted that the entity, founded in Terrassa in 1993, serves more than 1.150 people annually in the set of offices it has around Catalonia: a space in Sabadell (1,400m²), another in Rubí (130m²), in Sant Cugat del Vallès (80m²) and in Castellar del Vallès (90 m²).

Pere Navarro, special delegate of the State in the CZFB, has stated that “the AVAN Foundation develops a crucial work with its accompaniment to children and young people who suffer from neurological diseases and their families. At the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona we strive for an inclusive and respectful society, which works to offer new opportunities and an improvement in the quality of life of all people. And the AVAN Foundation is a great example of that”.

For her part, Cristina Urriza, president of the AVAN Foundation, stressed that “the economic collaboration of the CZFB will allow the children and adolescents of the city of Terrassa and its sphere of influence to have an ideal space to receive the necessary therapies to improve their day-to-day life and that of their families. On behalf of all of them and AVAN, I would like to express our gratitude to the CZFB for their help”.

The project has the financial support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Diputació de Barcelona, the Terrassa City Council and the European Next Generation funds of the European Union, managed through the Department of Social Rights of the Generalitat.