The Foundation, alongside its founder, Maestro Andrea Bocelli, continues to fulfill its commitment to the COVID-19 emergency by already planning Phase 2 with the launch of an SMS solidarity campaign and a special show entitled “Un nuovo giorno – Andrea Bocelli Live” that will be broadcast in prime time on Rai Uno – a leading Italian TV channel – on April 28.
Florence, April 22 – The Andrea Bocelli Foundation (ABF) is launching the second phase of its fundraiser for the COVID-19 emergency with its new campaign “With You, to shape the future”, which represents a new beginning, with a digital education project.
Access to education has always been the cornerstone of ABF’s work, both within Italy and abroad, and the embodiment of its mission of “empowering people and communities”. That is why ABF has chosen to offer tangible support to students, families and their teachers with a pilot initiative that is looking to enhance distance learning and which sees them, once again, standing with communities that find themselves in difficult situations. The launch of the new campaign will also be supported by the “Un nuovo giorno – Andrea Bocelli Live” – A New Day – Andrea Bocelli Live – television show, which will be broadcast in prime time on Rai Uno – a leading Italian TV channel – on April 28.
“Once again, music demonstrates its ability to unite people and create beauty. With this new campaign, we wish to initiate a “new day” for the children, their families and their teachers, to lighten their load as they move through this difficult time and to ensure a better future for all – said Maestro Andrea Bocelli – This magical evening will be an opportunity to retrace what we have done over the last 3 years with the Foundation that bears my name, together, thanks to your unfailing support”.
A pilot project to enhance distance learning (DL)
During this global health emergency, approximately 91% of students worldwide are continuing their education through distance learning [1] and, according to recent data released by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, in Italy 57% of under-17s must share their computer or tablet with their family, while 12.3% do not have one at all. [2]
As a community leader, ABF has therefore chosen to offer tangible support to students, families and their teachers with an initiative focused on distance learning, which sees them, once again, standing with communities that find themselves in difficult situations, in close collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR).
Thanks to the funds raised, ABF will provide some public schools and hospital schools with the tools required to develop their students’ talent and allow them to give their best within their communities, even at times when distance learning is necessary, in line with the UN’s Global Goal 4: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Specifically, ABF’s new distance learning initiatives will strive to:
- Create a library of devices, so as to allow students to connect with their teachers and educators;
- Develop a platform for the ABF Lab, which will allow access to a series of online educational content, including interactive content;
- Train the professional role of the digital atelierista, a 4.0 librarian able to support teachers, parents and students on the correct usage of the tools and on how to use the same tools to maintain and develop relationships.
Whether they be brick walls or social and digital barriers, since 2011 ABF has been committed to investing in the future of the new generations, both within Italy and abroad, by providing them with the tools required to achieve their potential. Now, even during this period of emergency when children are finding themselves forced to attend school from their homes, ABF wishes to continue to support children and young people, with a pilot project, in close collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, to enhance distance learning and provide students with the resources and tools required for educational innovation.
“We had previously approached the topic of digital education prior to the COVID-19 emergency by studying the hospital school experience alongside the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and the National Pediatric Hospitals Association. Albeit within the context of an emergency, the arrival of the Coronavirus has given everyone the opportunity to experiment with digital education, and its potential and its limitations. We have discovered that it is not merely a tool for the few. It does not have to be a sad transposition of traditional teaching, yet represents a source of new possibilities and new languages for the growth and development of the citizen of tomorrow and it is in this sense that we have attempted to develop “With You, to shape the future”, said Laura Biancalani, Andrea Bocelli Foundation President.
“Un nuovo giorno – Andrea Bocelli Live” – A New Day – Andrea Bocelli Live
To support the launch of the second phase of the fundraising campaign, a special show entitled “Un nuovo giorno – Andrea Bocelli Live” will be broadcast on Rai Uno – a leading Italian TV channel – on April 28. The show will feature the best songs from the three concerts headlined by the Maestro that were put on in the most stunning musical venues in Italy: the Colosseum, the Arena of Verona and the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, Andrea Bocelli’s hometown. The musical performances will alternate with stories from the last three years of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation’s work, ranging from its recent initiative to support hospitals, to its interventions and projects in the areas hit by the 2016 earthquake. Indeed, each of these events launched past fundraisers, which allowed the three new buildings of the Music Schools in Sarnano, Muccia and Camerino, respectively, to be built in the Marche area of Central Italy hit by the 2016 earthquake.
How you can donate
“With You, to shape the future” will be open from April 26: You can donate from abroad via bank transfer using the following details: IBAN IT53K0523271030000010016699
Reason: With You, to shape the future or by sending an email to development@andreabocellifoundation.org.
ABF and the COVID-19 emergency
When the Coronavirus emergency began in Italy, the Andrea Bocelli Foundation was hard at work building the new Music Academy in Camerino, the Marche town hit by the 2016 earthquake, which is near and dear to the Foundation, where it was carrying out educational projects based on art and music in schools, with the aim of inaugurating it in 150 days.
Following on from the enforced closure of the work site, ABF decided to stay and help the communities suffering from being a “double red zone” by launching the first fundraiser on GoFundme.com, which raised 100,000 euros in just a few days, allowing us to donate 4 pulmonary ventilators to the intensive care unit of the COVID hospital in Camerino, which had initiated a reconstruction project to support the local communities in January. After achieving its first target, ABF decided to continue with its fundraiser, to create a new 30-bed COVID ward at the hospital of Macerata in just 10 days, in partnership with local institutions. Since then, other hospitals that are fighting to care for COVID patients are being supported by the Foundation every week and it has provided personal protective equipment to the hospitals of Massa, Versilia, Pontedera, Florence (San Giovanni di Dio), Camerino-Macerata and many other associations, care homes, and foster homes with pediatric patients.
[1] https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse
[2] https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/240949