2004 EDITION: XVIII Premi Solidaritat to Fundació Arrels and Menció Mitjans de Comunicació to Jaume Codina

On December 16th, 2004, the jury, composed of Victòria Camps, Tomàs Delclós, Arcadi Oliveras, Agustí Soler, Maruja Torres, Pilar Vallugera, David Bondia y Jaume Saura (Director and President of IDHC), decided to give the XVIII Premi Solidaritat to Fundació Arrels.

The panel wanted to recognize the work of this association which is devoted to the aid of homeless people in Barcelona and the denouncement of the terrible conditions in which they live.

Arrels is a foundation created in 1987 and whose aim is to improve the situation in which the socially excluded live, with a strong emphasis on the homeless who find themselves in a critical situation. Since the foundations creation it has helped more than 4000 people and now collaborates with many other organisations.

The prize consisted of a work of art generously donated by the Catalan painter Frederic Amat.

The winner of the Honorary Prize for Work in the Media was Mr Jaume Codina, Director of TVE programme “Línia 900”. This programme, broadcast from Sant Cugat at 20:30 on Sundays on TVE, deals with troublesome topics that directly affect people, topics that do not often find space in the media.

Vulnerable groups, education, environmental problems, and consumer protection are among the topics of the “Línia 900” programme; the only thing this programme wants to achieve is to give voice to anyone who has something to say. Nearly 70% of these reports have be made thanks to the contributions, testimonies and complaints the shows viewers have made through the telephone and the e-mail services the programme provides.

The bestowment of the Premi Solidaritat and Menció Mitjants de Comunicació took place on February 8th 2005 at the Parlament de Catalunya.