One of the ways that you can visit Barcelona responsibly is to contribute to the local community, and I am pleased to introduce my chosen community project partner: Esperança Barcelona.
Esperança means hope in Catalan, and the organisation provides homemade meals and clothing for homeless people in Barcelona every weekend. You can volunteer with Esperança or choose to make a donation to help their valuable work in Barcelona.
What is Esperança Barcelona?
I had a chat with the president of Esperança Barcelona, Karina Jackson, to learn more about the organisation, what they do, and how visitors to Barcelona can contribute. Since we spoke, Adeline Lynch has taken over as the new president and continues to do fantastic work with Esperança.
Esperança was founded in 2013 by two friends and became an NGO in 2016. Every Saturday and Sunday evening a small team of volunteers takes to the streets to provide food and supplies to homeless people along two routes in Barcelona.
It is completely run by volunteers and they help anywhere from 80 to 120 people every weekend, with the food costing around €350 to €400 each weekend. Small things can make a big difference, so any donations and help are greatly received! Read more about Esperança Barcelona on their website here.
What Esperança Does
On Saturday and Sunday evenings, Esperança volunteers prepare food in their homes or at workshops and then deliver it to homeless people.
The food they usually take includes tuna sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, soup (cold or hot, depending on the weather), hard-boiled eggs, soft fruits, individually wrapped madeleines (cakes) or biscuits, and fruit juice. The food is prepared and packed up in trolleys to be taken out on the delivery walks.
There are usually two teams of 5 volunteers who follow two different routes to deliver food to homeless people in Barcelona, one through El Raval and Poble Sec, and one around Parc de la Ciutadella.
Each team includes an experienced volunteer who knows the route and the people they visit – a Route Leader, and 4 walkers who join them. The delivery walks last around 90 minutes to 2 hours and take place in the early evening on Saturdays and Sundays around 5 or 6pm in winter, and around 7.30pm in summer.
They deliver food and chat with the people they meet, also taking requests for specific items they may need and hopefully bringing them next time! You don’t need to speak Spanish to join a walk, and everyone over 14 is welcome to volunteer.
How Can You Help?
There are several ways that visitors can volunteer in Barcelona and make a contribution to Esperança:
- Volunteer on a weekend walk to take food and supplies to homeless people (minimum age limit of 14 years to join a walk)
- Join a sandwich workshop to prepare food (every 2nd Sunday of the month)
- Donate or make food for the volunteers to distribute
- Donate supplies such as:
- travel-size toiletries like soap, shampoo and sun cream
- sanitary products
- clean clothing in good condition that is suitable for the homeless and for the current season. It should be casual and dark-coloured. For example:
- new socks and underwear
- light jackets, trousers, shorts, t-shirts & vest tops (summer)
- coats, sweaters, tops, warm clothing, gloves and hats (winter)
- seasonal footwear like flip flops and sandals in summer and trainers and boots in winter
- other practical items like backpacks, blankets and sleeping bags
- Donate money on the Esperança website at any time
If you have items to drop off, you can bring them to Esperança at Carrer De La Volta Del Remei 2, Ciutat Vella (just off Carrer Ferran) in Barcelona. You can also bring non-perishable items to nearby Dunnes Irish Pub on Via Laietana, and they will pass them on to Esperança.
Check the allowed drop-off times on the website, as the Esperança team is not always on site. They usually have drop-off available for an hour before the Saturday and Sunday walks, but have limited storage space available, so it’s best to contact them before bringing any large or bulky donations.
If you’d like more information and to volunteer, reach out to Esperança Barcelona on their website here.
If you live in Barcelona and want to help, as well as the options above there are more ways to get involved on a long-term basis so don’t hesitate to reach out to Esperança and see what you can do.
How to Contact Esperança Barcelona
You can contact Esperança on their website here, or on Instagram here.
My Experience Volunteering in Barcelona with Esperança
I must admit I was a bit nervous about volunteering. I’d never done anything like this before, but I really believe that we should all do something to help others, especially if we’re just visiting the city for a short time.
I had already spoken to Karina to learn more about Esperança and what they do but still wasn’t sure what I could do to help, so I signed up for a sandwich workshop that they run two Sundays a month.
We met at the Esperança base in the Gothic Quarter, a small room with a sink and just enough space for a couple of tables where we set up to prepare the sandwiches. They have since moved to a different location that they share with an art gallery.
Sandwich workshops are organised so each person brings something to contribute to the collection without having any duplicates.
We were 5 volunteers who each brought 10 baguettes and something to make with them – I brought tuna, and others brought cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and other items that we would take on our delivery later.
I hadn’t realised how much space 10 baguettes take up, usually only ever buying one for me, so I was glad it was a team effort to make all of the sandwiches! We set to work, slicing the baguettes and filling them with cheese and tomato and tuna mayo with cucumber.
The fillings are chosen so they have something suitable for vegetarians and halal diets, and it took us a couple of hours to make enough sandwiches to go around.
The sandwiches were wrapped in foil and packed up with the other food we would be taking around – hard boiled eggs, freshly made soup, tangerines and madeleines, as well as packets of juice.
Once the sandwiches were ready, we passed them to another organiser who took delivery of the rest of the food and got the bags and trolleys ready for the walkers to take out for distribution.
There are usually two teams of 5 volunteers who follow two different routes to deliver the food to homeless people in Barcelona, one through El Raval and Poble Sec, and one around Park de la Ciutadella.
I joined the Park route, setting off with trolley bags full of food. Our walk leader has been helping out at Esperança for several years, and knew the route and most of the people we met. Most of them had regular places where they slept for the night, and were glad to see us. For their privacy I didn’t take any photos of the people we met during the walk.
One thing that struck me was how friendly and grateful most of people were. I don’t know what I expected really, but sometimes it is easy to forget that homeless people are just like us and that homelessness can affect people for many different reasons.
Our supplies were handed out and the food went quickly. It shocked me how quickly it went – how many homeless people there were in such a small area, and how many more there must be throughout the city.
It wasn’t an easy experience, facing up to the problems of homelessness when it’s more common to look away and ignore it, but I’m glad I took part, and will aim to join Esperança at least once a month on their walking routes or to donate or supply food.
Since taking part in this sandwich workshop and walk, I have also contributed other foods such as boiled eggs, fruit and juices for other walks.
Every weekend, they need donations of food and other essential supplies, so if you’d like to help you can make a monetary donation online here, or volunteer to join a walk or bring food. It seems like more people want to do the walks instead of donate food, so every food donation is much appreciated.
There is a spreadsheet on their website here where you can put your name against the supplies needed so Esperança can plan and fill any gaps with donations.
When the weather turns colder in winter, warm clothing is also in demand, so have a look in your closets or make some room in your suitcase for souvenirs by donating a warm sweater, gloves or coat. Conversely, in summer things like water bottles and mini-sunscreen are just as important.
You can also look out for special events to support Esperança’s fundraising efforts, keep an eye on their Instagram for event updates and activities. I went to a pub quiz organised by them which was great fun, and raised important funds for the organisation.
I hope this has helped give you an idea of how you can make a difference to people living in Barcelona, any donation is greatly appreciated!
If you’d like to learn more about how to visit Barcelona responsibly, take a look at these articles:
Barcelona Overtourism Solutions
How to Experience Catalan Culture in Barcelona
9 Airbnb Alternatives in Barcelona