Cipo

Cipo (formally CIPO, S.C.C.L., and linked to the Fundació Privada CIPO) is a Catalan social-economy cooperative based in Sabadell, in the region of Catalonia, Spain. It was founded in 1968 by a group of mothers and fathers of young people with intellectual disabilities who were worried about what would happen to their children once their school years ended. From that initial impulse a textile workshop was created, and later an industrial laundry service was launched. Over the decades Cipo has grown into one of the largest social enterprises in Sabadell, combining productive activity with a mission of social and labour integration. The organisation operates as a Centre Especial de Treball (Special Employment Centre), a Spanish legal formula for employing people with disabilities in a protected but productive setting. Its productive activities include work in the natural environment and gardening, together with other activities related to the environment, recycling and sustainability. It also runs a laundry line; at one point the laundry activity was moved into a joint venture called Cipo-Flisa, created together with the Fundación ONCE. Cipo promotes the social and labour integration of people with intellectual disabilities and/or mental illness through employment adapted to each person's needs. Cipo is a non-profit social enterprise. Its mission is to improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities and/or mental illness and their families, generating supports and opportunities for each person to develop their life project as full citizens. Its vision is to be a reference entity in this field. The organisation is supported by the Fundació Privada CIPO, which raises funds for items such as glasses, orthodontics, orthopaedics and hearing aids for users in vulnerable situations, and it publishes a periodic newsletter, "Tots som CIPO". It also organises community events such as the CIPOFest and a sponsored walk ("Apadrina un calidoscopi"). Since 2010 Cipo has had to respond to a double effect of the economic crisis: on one hand, subsidies from the Generalitat de Catalunya were frozen and Social Security bonuses were eliminated; on the other hand, regular clients reduced their consumption of gardening or laundry services as a cost-saving measure. The cooperative sought new production lines. In May 2012 Cipo had 180 users, 80 of whom were contracted by the Special Employment Centre, and by October 2013 it employed more than half a thousand people. Despite reduced public subsidies and salary cuts, the cooperative found other survival formulas and became one of the largest companies in Sabadell. In January 2012 it took part in the creation of the "Créixer" cluster, an initiative of some fifteen social-economy work companies aimed at creating more and better jobs for people with greater difficulties through business collaboration strategies; in 2012 the cluster's companies together employed around 7,000 workers. Cipo has received recognition including the 2007 Generalitat de Catalunya Environment Award for waste reduction and recycling actions for its domestic oil recycling project, and the 2009 Cambra de Medi Ambient, Seguretat i Salut award from the Sabadell Chamber of Commerce.

Cipo was founded in 1968 in Sabadell by a group of mothers and fathers of young people with intellectual disabilities. Their concern was the future of their children once the school cycle ended, and they sought a normalised alternative. The first productive activity was a textile workshop. Later, an industrial laundry service was launched. Subsequently, together with the Fundación ONCE, Cipo created a new company, Cipo-Flisa, to which the laundry activity was transferred. Over the decades the cooperative grew and became one of the largest companies in Sabadell. It operates as a Special Employment Centre (Centre Especial de Treball), combining its social mission with real productive work in gardening, natural environment services, recycling and sustainability. Since 2010 the entity has had to respond to the double effect of the economic crisis: on one side, subsidies from the Generalitat de Catalunya were frozen and Social Security bonuses were suppressed; on the other side, regular clients reduced their consumption of gardening or laundry services as a savings measure. New production lines were sought. In May 2012 Cipo had 180 users, 80 of whom were contracted by the Special Employment Centre, and by October 2013 it employed more than half a thousand people. Although public administration subsidies had decreased and it had had to cut salaries, the cooperative found other survival formulas and became one of the largest companies in Sabadell. In January 2012 Cipo participated in the creation of the "Créixer" cluster, an initiative of some fifteen social-economy work companies whose purpose is "to create more and better jobs for people with greater difficulties, through business collaboration strategies". In 2012, the cluster's companies together employed around 7,000 workers. Cipo has received recognition for its environmental work. In 2007 it received the Generalitat de Catalunya Environment Award for actions in waste reduction and recycling for its domestic oil recycling project. In 2009 it received the Cambra de Medi Ambient, Seguretat i Salut award, granted by the Chamber of Commerce of Sabadell.

• 2013

  Cipo employs more than half a thousand people.

• 2012

  Participates in the creation of the "Créixer" cluster of social-economy work companies.

• 2012

  Cipo has 180 users, 80 of whom are contracted by the Special Employment Centre.

• 2010

  The entity begins to face the double effect of the economic crisis: frozen Generalitat subsidies, suppressed Social Security bonuses, and reduced client consumption.

• 2009

  Receives the Cambra de Medi Ambient, Seguretat i Salut award from the Chamber of Commerce of Sabadell.

• 2007

  Receives the Generalitat de Catalunya Environment Award for waste reduction and recycling actions for its domestic oil recycling project.

• 1968

  Cipo is founded in Sabadell by a group of parents of young people with intellectual disabilities; a textile workshop is created.

• An industrial laundry service is launched.

• Together with the Fundación ONCE, Cipo creates Cipo-Flisa and transfers the laundry activity there.

Non-profit social enterprise and Special Employment Centre integrating people with intellectual disabilities and/or mental illness into the labour market through productive environmental, gardening and laundry services.

• Gardening and natural environment services

  Productive activity carried out as a Special Employment Centre, including gardening and work in the natural environment.

• Industrial laundry services

  Laundry activity launched after the textile workshop; later transferred to Cipo-Flisa, a joint venture with Fundación ONCE.

• Recycling and environmental services

  Activities related to the environment, recycling and sustainability, including a domestic oil recycling project.

• Textile workshop products

  The first productive activity of Cipo, created in 1968.

1. 1CIPO. Centre Especial de Treball. Feines del medi natural i jardineriacipo.cat
2. 2Cipo - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Cipo - Viquipèdiaca.wikipedia.org