Community and Red Cross: 90,000 euros against loneliness in the elderly

The Community of Madrid and the Spanish Red Cross have signed an agreement to execute actions under the Active Aging and Dependency Prevention Plan 2025-2027, focused on accompanying elderly people in situations of unwanted loneliness and intergenerational volunteering throughout the region. The agreement, signed on October 19, 2026, is published in the BOCM number 268, dated November 7, 2026, with the official reference BOCM-20261107-15.

A specific agreement under the 2021 framework agreement

The agreement implements the collaboration between the Department of Family, Youth, and Social Affairs and the Spanish Red Cross within the Framework Agreement signed on November 24, 2021, whose extension addendum, signed on November 11, 2025, extends its effects until November 24, 2029. The legal coverage is Decree 48/2019, of June 10, which regulates the conventional activity of the Community of Madrid.

It is signed by the regional minister Ana Dávila-Ponce de León Municio, appointed by Decree 46/2023, of June 23, and the president of the Autonomous Committee of the Spanish Red Cross in the Community of Madrid, Pilar Roy Merinero. The entity is registered in the Registry of Social Action and Social Services Entities by resolution of January 9, 1992, and Decree 241/2023, of September 20, assigns the Department the coordination of the public care network for elderly people.

Three lines of action and four concrete actions

The text establishes three strategic lines and the actions that the Spanish Red Cross will develop together with the Department:

• Line 1: community approach to unwanted loneliness, with an integral model coordinated with social, neighborhood, and volunteering resources.
• Line 2: intergenerational “mentoring” and senior talent, with elderly people acting as mentors for youth and adults in unemployment situations.
• Line 3: awareness and dissemination, with campaigns in traditional media and telematic channels.
• Actions with the elderly on significant dates, accompaniment for administrative procedures and travel, “mentoring,” and media dissemination approved by the Community.

The annexes detail the content. Connected Christmases provides for telephone and in-person emotional accompaniment on December 24, 25, and 31, 2026, and January 1 and 4 or 5, 2027, including the distribution of Christmas baskets and individualized follow-up. Accompaniment for procedures is channeled through the Spanish Red Cross Proximity Telephone (900221122), operational 24 hours a day from the Operations Center at 26 Reina Victoria Street, and contemplates the creation of “community antennas” integrated into the Coordination Network for the Care of Elderly People in Loneliness (CRAMAS).

90,000 euros over two annual installments and for closed concepts

The total amount amounts to 90,000 euros, charged to program 231D, sub-concept 22802 of the Community budgets: 35,000 euros in 2026 and 55,000 euros in 2027. The maximum limits per action are:

• Connected Christmases: 25,000 euros (transport, subsistence, consumable materials, and personnel).
• Support in procedures and travel: 30,000 euros (technical aids, transport, dissemination, and personnel).
• Intergenerational “Mentoring”: 25,000 euros (dissemination, annual event, and personnel).
• General expenses, monitoring, evaluation, and management: 10,000 euros.

Payment will be made in two disbursements, in the first fortnight of December 2026 and in the first fortnight of April 2027, subject to justification and certification of conformity by the Director General for Care for the Elderly and Dependency.

Validity until March 2027 and joint commission

The agreement is in effect from its formalization until March 31, 2027, with a justification deadline until May 31, 2027. It may be extended for annual periods up to a maximum of four additional years.

A joint monitoring commission, with two representatives from the General Directorate for Care for the Elderly and Dependency and two from the Spanish Red Cross, will meet at least twice a year. It will be chaired by the head of the General Directorate, and its functions include approving the work plan, success indicators, and the cost table. The legal regime is that of Law 40/2015, of October 1, and the personnel depend exclusively on the Red Cross.

The agreement arrives in a context of population aging that the Community itself describes as a social challenge. For the residents of the region, the agreement translates—into concrete services such as telephone and in-person support, assistance with procedures, and a senior mentor program—a part of the first regional plan dedicated to active aging, with an execution calendar starting in the next Christmas period.

Source: BOCM, no. 268, November 7, 2026, section I.D (Announcements), pp. 179-192 (official reference: BOCM-20261107-15).