400 EDP volunteers will support the work taking place in areas affected by the fires that raged through the country in June and October of this year. From 5 December, International Volunteer Day, the company's employees will join forces to clean land and houses, reforest burnt areas, sort clothes, rebuild farm buildings, collect and distribute food and hygiene kits and create community allotments.

The initiatives will take place in Castanheira de Pera, Oliveira de Frades and Vouzela, from 5 - 21 December, in cooperation with Doctors of the World.

EDP has from the outset been in the areas, coordinating with local and national agencies, to support the affected populations.  In July the company mobilized 133 volunteers to respond to the emergency in Castanheira de Pera and Figueiró dos Vinhos, reinforcing local teams in the distribution of kits to the population, cleaning debris and sorting clothes. Since August, in partnership with the municipal councils, it has been mobilizing experts (architects, designers, surveyors and engineers) for skills volunteering, in particular to support the reconstruction projects.

The initiatives that are now being launched will continue this work and are part of EDP's Christmas Volunteering Campaign, which mobilizes more than 1000 employees in Portugal for 50 projects in 12 districts of the country. 

Every December since 2011 the EDP Volunteering Programme has been organizing a Christmas campaign in the different countries in which the Group operates.  The initiatives undertaken in Portugal focus on volunteering for social inclusion and involve preparing and delivering baskets to needy families, organizing Christmas parties, renovating houses, taking children to the circus, reading stories to children and building entertainment spaces for little ones in some institutions.

The EDP Volunteering Programme has already clocked up more than 26,000 contributions, totalling 185,000 hours, in ten countries. Partnerships have been established with more than 14,000 organizations, impacting the lives or more than 1 million people.

Throughout the years, the Programme has carved out a space within EDP, involving employees from several countries and challenging EDP retirees, family members, friends and partners to get involved in voluntary work.  Currently, 20% of the Group's employees volunteer through the company.