Representatives of the organizations COCEMFE Castelló, Asociación de Familiares de Alzheimer (AFA) Castelló, l’Aurora Grup de Suport and ANAR Foundation have visited this Wednesday the concert venue of the international reggae festival Rototom Sunsplash.
Its 29th edition, to be held in Benicàssim from this Friday, August 16, until August 21, will contribute to finance four of the social projects promoted by these entities through the new features implemented in the management of the festival’s inclusive season tickets.
This type of accreditations give, once again this year, free access to the site to children under 13 years, over 65 and people with disabilities (65%, accredited).
Thus, all these groups will be able to enjoy six days of concerts, culture and international cuisine by making a one-time social contribution of 10 euros.
A symbolic fee per person and for the whole edition that will go entirely to support the work of these four third sector organizations.
The list of organizations and projects that will help finance the festival can be consulted on the Rototom Sunsplash website. Beatriz Gil is a psychologist in the education department at Fundación ANAR Comunitat Valenciana, dedicated to the promotion and defense of the rights of children and adolescents at risk or in distress, due to situations of abuse, bullying, gender violence, parental neglect or mental health problems.
“The central program of the foundation, to which the funds raised through the festival will be destined, are the help lines: a free telephone or chat service, confidential, anonymous and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and attended by a psychology, legal and social team specialized in childhood and adolescence.”
Depending on the problem expressed by the child, guidance is provided, the child is referred to the relevant resource close to his or her place of residence, or “if the case is extremely serious”, the child is referred to the relevant authorities.
In 2023 the ANAR Foundation received nationwide more than 256,000 requests for help.
In Comunitat Valenciana there were more than 19,600: more than 2,800 cases of extreme seriousness, “where the life of a child was at risk,” says Beatriz Gil.
Violence against a minor was the main cause of the demand for help.
AFA Castelló ‘s president, Emili Marmaneu, and Silvia Ramos, manager, were present at the pre-festival visit.
The project to be funded through the Rototom Sunsplash will be the acquisition of a second van for the transfer of users of the center La Pineda from their homes to these facilities.
“That Alzheimer’s is in a festival like Rototom helps to normalize this disease, and raise awareness about it,” said Marmaneu.
Ximo Nebot, president of COCEMFE Castelló, participated in the visit to the Concert venue along with Raúl Saura, head of HR of the organization, and Gloria Cantó, social worker at the entity. “The aim of this collaboration with Rototom Sunsplash is to acquire a van adapted to cover the displacements at provincial level of people with disabilities and reduced mobility residing in towns further away from the capital; we have this service in some municipalities, but we want to extend it to the whole province, to help those who have more difficulties when traveling to attend a medical appointment, day centers, leisure, job, etc., “said Nebot.
COCEMFE Castelló has more than 30 years of experience in adapted transport and currently provides services in Castelló, Almassora, Vilafamés and Borriana.
In the capital of La Plana alone, it has a fleet of 19 vehicles.
The organization performs more than 59,000 services each year.
“In 2023 we have served 440 people,” said Raúl Saura.
He stresses that these are “door-to-door displacements, totally personalized”.
“We thank the Rototom Sunsplash for supporting the four beneficiary entities, in particular COCEMFE, because these are very expensive vehicles, since the purchase is added to the interior adaptation,” said Ximo Nebot.

On behalf of the NGO l’Aurora Grup de Suport, dedicated to supporting humanitarian rescue ships in the Mediterranean, its president and coordinator of the port of Borriana, Irina Catalina Dragomir, and Tanja Seidel, coordinator of global operations and international deployment, attended the event.
“The contributions we receive will go to two projects, on the one hand the deployment of our entity in Sicily to replicate there the whole system of logistics and support to humanitarian rescue ships of migrants in the Mediterranean that we have carried out in the last five years in the Valencian ports; and on the other, to take a step further in the Eulàlia Rescue RHIB project in Borriana: we are going to make a training center to have ready a team of between 10 and 20 people that can operate in the rescue boats of the different ships, avoiding the delay of the missions”, they have explained.
l’Aurora Grup de Suport will be present in the non-profit area of the festival with talks and activities “to raise awareness about the migratory drama in the Mediterranean and the empowerment of civil society to address the lack of action by European governments”.
“The action of Rototom should be an example for other festivals; a festival like this requires a huge economic part, but we value as very positive the sensitivity of this project with our organization and others, to return all this to a more committed society, more responsible and in search of respect for human rights,” they have pointed out from l’Aurora Grup de Suport.