We are a foundation that works to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental illness, and in situations of vulnerability, so that they can fulfill their life projects, safeguarding their rights and generating supports and opportunities to make it possible.
People served with intellectual disabilities, mental health disorders, and vulnerability
People housed in residential and home services
People who make up the professional staff
People with disabilities who work in the organization
Donors committed to the organization's projects
We support people with intellectual disabilities or in situations of vulnerability in the development of their life projects, guaranteeing their rights and the sustainability of AMPANS, with a clear willingness to create social transformation.
To be a leading organization in the provision of services and support to people in situations of vulnerability, distinguished by excellence in management and the value it brings to society.
We support people with intellectual disabilities or in situations of vulnerability in the development of their life projects, guaranteeing their rights and the sustainability of AMPANS, with a clear willingness to create social transformation.
To be a leading organization in the provision of services and support to people in situations of vulnerability, distinguished by excellence in management and the value it brings to society.
Driven by families themselves, the organization was born in 1965 with the aspiration of a better future for their sons and daughters with intellectual disabilities. Over the years, the organization has developed a care model that has continuous and personalized attention as its backbone. Through customized centers, services, programs, and support, we embrace all stages of life, with the certainty that each person is different and that needs change at every moment in life.
In the annual activity report, we explain the projects that we have accomplished in the past year and the ones that we are carrying out, how we develop them and with what results. You will also find a summary of the most outstanding events of the year and the main data of the organization.
In a trajectory of almost sixty years, the commitment and effort of several generations of people who have contributed to the cause for improving the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities have been recognized on multiple occasions by institutions, companies, and organizations, to whom we thank for their sensitivity and recognition towards our project. Creu Sant Jordi 1992, Placa al Treball President Macià 2008, or Medalla al Mèrit Cívic de l’Ajuntament de Manresa 2015, are some of the most outstanding institutional distinctions in our trajectory. These and all the recognitions received are the result of the joint work of the entire organization.
Veure mésWe are committed to the continuous improvement of our processes and activities, with quality and excellence certifications, for the best possible development of our activities and with the best possible efficiency.
AMPANS, a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact and committed to the 17 SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, directs all its actions towards improving the quality of life of people, aspiring to a kinder and fairer world that takes into account future generations.
Since our beginnings in the 1960s, we have been closely linked to the territory and the environment. From the historic campaigns for the collection of glass bottles and paper, we design new projects with sustainability and efficiency criteria. We pursue models of responsible consumption and zero emissions, betting on renewable energy, circular economy, and sustainable mobility.
We are committed to the continuous improvement of our processes and activities, with quality and excellence certifications, for the best possible development of our activities and with the best possible efficiency.
AMPANS, a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact and committed to the 17 SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, directs all its actions towards improving the quality of life of people, aspiring to a kinder and fairer world that takes into account future generations.
Since our beginnings in the 1960s, we have been closely linked to the territory and the environment. From the historic campaigns for the collection of glass bottles and paper, we design new projects with sustainability and efficiency criteria. We pursue models of responsible consumption and zero emissions, betting on renewable energy, circular economy, and sustainable mobility.
AMPANS is an independent private foundation with no profit motive, governed by a Board of Trustees, which ensures compliance with the entity’s mission. It was registered as the AMPANS Foundation in the register of foundations of the Government of Catalonia on December 21, 2010. The entity began in 1965 as an association but in 2010 it was transformed into a foundation with the aim of having all the mechanisms provided by the legal framework to consolidate and ensure with total guarantee the assets and the future of people with intellectual disabilities.
The functions of the Board of Trustees:
The Board of Trustees is the highest decision-making body of the foundation and is responsible for its representation, governance, and administration. It may delegate its functions to other bodies with no limits other than those established by the law in force at any given time and its statutes.
The functions of the Executive Comitee:
The Executive Committee has the function of executing the decisions of the Board of Trustees.
The functions of the Appointments Committee:
Its function is to select the future President, the future patrons, as well as trustees who will form the Executive Committee, and to propose them to the Board of Trustees for appointment.
Relevant voices from different environments and disciplines, health, education, economy, co-operativeism, technology and communication, are part of the Advisory Council, key people who voluntarily and free of charge provide us with their knowledge and their vision about the social, technological and economic changes to which we will have to respond in the future.
It is a participation body created in 2017, with the mission of advising and contributing to the decision-making of the various governing and management bodies of the AMPANS Foundation. The Council accompanies the organization by providing an external vision and knowledge in making decisions of a strategic nature for the entity.
People, our main value
Working for people is surely one of the most meaningful jobs in life. Ours is an eminently human task, where people are our most essential value to achieve and realize our mission. Ours is a team committed to people and their families. Professionals with a vocation for service, who accompany people in their goals and in their day-to-day life.
A good idea always arises from one's own experience. In 1965, a group of parents of children with intellectual disabilities came together to defend their children's rights. With the aim of making them visible and fighting for their full integration, the Manresa Association of Parents of Gifted Children was born, which in 2010 became the AMPANS Foundation.
A group of parents of children with intellectual disabilities create the association AMPANS. That same year, the first classroom for pupils with special educational needs was set up in Manresa. It adopts as its logo the drawing of a child on an easel (1970) by the Manresa illustrator Miquel Esparbé.
The La Llum school is founded, which later changes its name to Jeroni de Moragas Special Education School. It is a pioneering center that paves the way for a new educational model and a new social sensitivity. The school grew year after year and had to undergo renovations and expansions in order to accommodate all the requests.
AMPANS receives its first donation: a printing press that will be the beginning of AMPANS workshops and employment insertion.
The couple Julio Payàs and Rosa Puigarnau give the Santa Maria de Comabella estate to AMPANS while still alive. One of AMPANS' most legendary and emblematic campaigns begins, the collection of bottles and paper, which was held every first Sunday after Epiphany. Thousands of volunteer participants joined the campaign during its 25-year duration, and it was one of the entity's main sources of funding, as well as the most important awareness-raising campaign of the time.
The Sol d'Amor gathering is held in Comabella, bringing together 30,000 people, with the aim of raising funds for the move and start-up of the facility. The estate's capacity allowed for a qualitative leap in care and represented a before and after for AMPANS.
The first homes are opened, located on Zamenhof Street. A pioneering service and an example of integration into neighborhood life. Before the opening of the homes, AMPANS officials went to visit the neighbors in the area and explained the project to them, which was very well received by individuals and the Carretera de Santpedor Neighborhood Association.
The Sant Rafael Esplai is founded, a leisure activities space to facilitate the necessary leisure time for children and young people.
The Manipulated section is launched (currently Industry Services), a service that offers companies the possibility of carrying out any part of the production process that involves manipulation of the product.
The Julio Payàs Residence for people with high dependency is launched in Comabella. A public facility with which the entity completes attention in the life cycle of people with intellectual disabilities.
This year, AMPANS also began its Cleaning Section.
AMPANS promotes the creation of the Santa Maria de Comabella Private Trust Foundation.
The Floriplant gardening center (now Garden AMPANS) is inaugurated, one of the emblems of job integration.
The collection of bottles and paper, one of the main sources of funding and a great volunteer movement, comes to an end. Once this initiative is finished, and seeing the opportunity to create a service that AMPANS could offer as a Special Employment Center, a professionalized waste collection service is born.
A new AMPANS logo is created to renew the image to a more modern one, symbolizing a stroke of blue and green. A new service is launched: the La Llum Occupational Center, which provides support to individuals through programs and activities that facilitate a connection with the environment and an active role in society.
AMPANS begins selective collection and waste management.
The Program for Support of Autonomy at Home is created, which aims to give people access to independent and normalized lifestyles as much as possible.
The Els Comtals residence for 30 adults with intellectual disabilities and behavioral disorders is inaugurated. The Home and Residence Service for children and adolescents is launched with the opening of a flat on Alcalde Armengou Street in Manresa.
The couple formed by Joan Vila and Dolors Isern donates the 120-hectare Urpina estate in Sant Salvador de Guardiola to AMPANS while they are still alive. Today, the estate houses a residence for 25 people with intellectual disabilities, vineyards, a cheesemaker, and a goat farm.
Announcement of the 1st Research Award on intellectual disability and developmental disorders.
The Canonge Restaurant is inaugurated in Manresa, a new opportunity for job integration.
The children and adolescents' home and residence service continues to grow, now with La Caseta, in Pineda de Bages (Sant Fruitós de Bages).
The Turó, a new home for children and adolescents with disabilities and developmental disorders, is inaugurated in Pineda de Bages.
The Association is transformed into the AMPANS Foundation by unanimous decision of the members' assembly, with the aim of giving the organization greater social accreditation and greater guarantee and patrimonial security. The La Colònia homes in Súria and Urpina in Sant Salvador de Guardiola are opened.
The 1st state congress on behavior disorders is celebrated.
The entity publishes the first Solidarity Calendar in which the emergency response teams in Bages and the students of the Jeroni de Moragas School of AMPANS are the protagonists. Profits are used to expand the scholarship program for families of people with intellectual disabilities.
The organization receives the EFQM 400+ seal of the European Excellence Model. In 2015, it will receive the accreditation in excellence for its management model with the EFQM 500+ seal.
AMPANS celebrates its 50th anniversary with a new logo created by the users.
Also, this year, the goat farm and cheese factory of Urpina are launched. The New Opportunities Center (CNO) is inaugurated, a program aimed at young people who have dropped out of school prematurely and do not have any academic or professional certification. AMPANS receives the Gold Medal of the City of Manresa for Civic Merit.
The Human Network, an aerial spectacle starring the people of AMPANS at the Sant Domènec Square in Manresa, is celebrated in collaboration with La Fura dels Baus. It marks the end of the events for the 50th anniversary of the organization.
That same year, a second residence for young people with behavioral disorders is inaugurated in Comtals.
The first supermarket in Catalonia with a staff composed entirely of people with disabilities, a franchise of AMPANS with Caprabo, opens in Manresa.
The Pinet, a new facility of the Residential Homes Service for Children and Adolescents in Pineda de Bages (Sant Fruitós de Bages), is launched. That same year, the deployment of the new Occupational Service model begins to bring it closer to municipal centers.
The Comabella packaging workshops are relocated to a new industrial warehouse in the Els Dolors Industrial Park in Manresa.
The deployment of the new Occupational Center model continues with a facility in the Les Bases neighborhood of Manresa. At the Art of Living Occupational Center, people with intellectual disabilities work on empowerment through artistic creation.
The second AMPANS supermarket with Caprabo opens on Pompeu Fabra street in Manresa. The Insert Prize is created, which promotes cinematographic and audiovisual creation by people with intellectual disabilities.
Efforts focus on addressing the Covid-19 pandemic. We promote the digital transformation of the organization's services. The EFQM 500+ excellence seal is revalidated for the third consecutive time.
Inauguration of the Els Companys children and youth residential school in Sant Fruitós de Bages. We promote La Plural, an online project for purchasing food products with social and environmental values. Inauguration of two new Occupational Centers in Sant Fruitós de Bages and Sant Vicenç de Castellet, with 24 and 30 places respectively.
