Over the course of two years, COCEMFE Seville’s ‘Be A Volunteer’ project has redrawn the map of solidarity in the province. What began as a dream of European cooperation in Budapest blossomed on the trails of the Andévalo and has culminated at the University of Seville, establishing people with disabilities not as recipients of aid, but as the driving force behind social change.
Be A Volunteer: The heartbeat of the capacity that is transforming Seville
It all began under the skies of Budapest in late 2023. There, where the Danube acts as an artery connecting nations, the seed was sown for what we now know as ‘Be A Volunteer’. It was the institutional starting point, a coordination meeting where experts and visionaries from COCEMFE Seville joined forces with European partners to draw up a bold roadmap: What if people with disabilities stopped always being the ones receiving support and became the ones offering it?
That initial spark in the Hungarian capital was not merely an administrative formality; it was a commitment to give ‘wings’ to young people in Seville. During those planning sessions, the framework for a volunteering programme was designed which, far from being welfare-based, sought empowerment through training in soft skills, emotional management and decision-making. The message was clear: disability is not a limitation on giving, but an enriching perspective for society.
Andévalo: an inclusive adventure
The project landed with a bang—literally—in February 2024. The Andévalo Aventura facilities became a real-life laboratory where twenty people with disabilities from various municipalities across Seville—from the countryside to the mountains—defied the laws of gravity and convention.
Over 48 hours of inclusive adventure, people like Carlos, Cristina, Salvador and Rubén showed that leadership is forged amongst kayaks and archery targets. That day was not just about leisure; it was the moment when the ‘active subject’ came to life. The participants, many of them from rural areas of the province, discovered that their hands could hold the group’s oar and their voices could guide their companions. Inclusive volunteering ceased to be a theory and became the sweat after a zip line and the shared smile after an evening under the stars. There, in the heart of nature, the chains of overprotection were broken.
The Volunteer’s Maturity: A New Leap Forward
As the calendar moved towards 2025 and early 2026, the project spread throughout the province. Volunteers from COCEMFE Seville sprang into action at sports centres such as the Sitting Volley facility and in supporting other people with disabilities. The emotional impact on their lives was seismic: volunteering became their tool for independence. They went from waiting on the sidelines to becoming the captains of the ship.
Each training session was another step on the ladder towards employability and genuine inclusion. Accounts from this period speak of young people who rediscovered their abilities, who felt, perhaps for the first time, useful and needed by their community. Physical or organic disability became an attribute, a ‘badge’ of resilience that added value to their acts of solidarity.
The power of volunteering
The two-year journey reached its emotional climax on Thursday 29 January 2026. The auditorium of the Faculty of Communication at the University of Seville was filled with an expectant silence that soon gave way to a standing ovation. There, as part of the conference on ‘Disability and the Media’, the ‘Be A Volunteer’ project bore its ripest fruit.
For young people with disabilities such as Carmen, Alfonso, Nerea, Andy, David and many others, as members of COCEMFE Seville, the experiences provided by Be A Volunteer have been a cornerstone of their lives; it has marked a clear before and after, an absolute turning point in their lives, strengthening their educational, social and interpersonal skills, enabling them to take a broader view of volunteering with a disability. Furthermore, they have been able to see first-hand how other young people with disabilities from various European countries were also carrying out voluntary work in their local communities.
A prime example of this is Ana Carrasco, a young woman from Seville living with ataxia, whose courage has been a beacon throughout this final stage of the ‘Be A Volunteer’ programme; she spoke out with determination. With a voice that came from the very depths of her experience, Ana shared how the figure of the personal assistant and her role as an active volunteer have given her back control of her own life. “Thanks to this support, everything changes; it allows me to be myself,” she confessed to an audience of future journalists and communicators. Her testimony was not a cry for help, but a manifesto of freedom. Ana, like so many other volunteers who have gone through the programme, demonstrated that true journalism and true communication spring from the honesty of those who dare to take their place in the world.
Being agents of change
‘Be A Volunteer’ does not end in a university lecture theatre or in a European report; it lives on in every town square across Seville’s municipalities where a volunteer with a disability reaches out a helping hand. As we bring this cycle to a close in 2026, we are left with the certainty that inclusion is not a destination, but a path that is forged as we walk it – sometimes in a wheelchair, sometimes at a slow pace, but always with a steadfast heart.
Today, Seville is a more humane place because its citizens have understood that we all have something to give. We invite you not to be a mere spectator of this transformation. Volunteering with and for people with disabilities is a bridge towards a society where no one is left behind, and where the greatest gift is not the one received, but the one we have the capacity to offer. Do you dare to be the next driving force for change?
This whole wonderful experience has brought about a profound transformation in the volunteers who have taken part in every activity, meeting and trip organised as part of the project run by our organisation, COCEMFE Sevilla. They have gained a wealth of knowledge, skills and practical experience in inclusive volunteering, because they have managed to transform themselves from mere, permanent recipients of aid into true protagonists not only of their own lives, communities and families, but also of organisations and fellow people with disabilities, continuing to weave together a vision, a mission and a way of life where inclusion is no longer just talk but has become a reality in Seville and throughout the province.
