Formació i Treball is a work integration social enterprise based in Barcelona. For over 30 years, they have been promoting Social Delivery Programmes in collaboration with social services from different private social organisations as well as city councils in Barcelona, city and metropolitan areas, with the aim of providing domestic furniture and clothes in a dignified way for families at risk of social exclusion.
Since 2021, Formació i Treball has a social furniture recovery workshop, which was launched as part of a partnership with IKEA under the Verdaderos Hogares project. The workshop creates new furniture, such as cupboards, out of disparate furniture pieces donated from IKEA, before donating them to furnish the homes of people seeking social assistance. The workshop also collects furniture and mattresses from companies with imperfect stock, hotels, and businesses replacing their inventory. In addition, they partner with various city councils to provide pickup services for residents, while offering on-demand collection services to individual households in Barcelona.
These activities directly feed into Formació i Treball’s contributions to the Social Delivery Programmes in the Catalan region. Under this collaboration, city councils provide local people in need with cheques that can be used to purchase clothes, furniture and mattresses in Formació i Treball shops according to their needs.
As a result of the social furniture recovery workshop, 60% of the roles created are filled by insertion programme participants. They contribute to a range of activities essential to the project’s success, including transport and logistics as well as furniture repair and reuse within the workshop. In addition to acquiring practical work experience, participants benefit from dedicated staff support throughout this structured pathway, including job search assistance and follow-up, to ensure a successful transition and retention in the labour market.
Read more about Formació i Treball and their social furniture recovery workshop in our report on Social Enterprises’ Role in Furniture and Mattress Circularity.
