WE ARE

A pioneering center for ongoing sociocultural training for adults 55 and over in Galicia.

A non-profit entity, a collaborator of the Xunta de Galicia, with 45 years of history.

Pioneers in the training of adults, today we have an average of 1,400 members and nine offices in the four Galician provinces.

With a team of experienced professionals, with a vocational spirit and passionate about their work.

OBJECTIVES

  • To Keep people active, both physically and mentally, in search of new aspirations and desires.
  • To be a place for creating bonds, fostering interpersonal relationships, common interest groups, and enjoyment with a timeshare.
  • To Promote the development of capacities and aptitudes, creating and expanding a network of knowledge for life.
  • To Train to be, to know, and be in the current times.
  • To Encourage a real and positive image of people over 55.

MISSION

Promote autonomy and independence.

It is training in the face of the challenges of an evolving society.

Achieve well-being that covers the interests, expectations, and potential of people over 55.

Treat a full quality of life.

VISION

That ATEGAL continues to be a reference for training, knowledge, and leisure for the demands we find in society.

It is a Favorable adaptation to the changes it requires

VALUES

Honesty, rigor, and effort.

Continuous improvement in the treatment and service offered.

Respect the dignity and autonomy of each person to decide how they want to live their lives.

WHAT DO WE DO?

At ATEGAL, we are aware that our users’ situations, capacities, or social participation are very different. This diversity means that today, adults coexist with a multitude of personal and professional nuances.

We work in the organization of permanent training and leisure programs, aimed at learning and promoting self-knowledge, an active and healthy lifestyle, improving self-esteem and promoting support networks among users.

At ATEGAL, we try to make everyone feel welcome and satisfy their demands to meet their expectations. We want to respond to a group’s needs with very different forms of aging; for this reason, we have two areas of action:

SENIOR CLASSROOMS

ACTITUDE+55

Training and leisure areas:
Cultural area | Occupational area | Health area | Leisure area

  • Face-to-face classes from October to May.
  • An average of 50 hours of class in 18 different seminars.
  • Different formations and moments of leisure.
  • Training in technologies and their application to people’s daily lives.
  • Intergenerational activities.
  • Own cultural and social senior volunteer program
  • Seminars on current issues and social and technological innovation.
Senior Classrooms

Training:

  • Reinforcement of knowledge, skills, competences, and aptitudes.
  • Tools and resources for updating AND expanding knowledge.
  • Courses, workshops, and conferences.
  • Entrepreneurship.

Active leisure:

  • Travel and cultural experiences.
  • Health and wellness care.

Job:

  • Coworking space.
  • Job offers.
Actitude+55

ATEGAL, OUR HISTORY

The Galician Cultural Association for the Ongoing Training of Adults is a non-profit entity, a collaborator of the Xunta de Galicia, in which the Senior Classrooms of Galicia- ATEGAL and the ACTITUD + 55 program integrated.

The origins of ATEGAL go back to 1978. The Ministry of Culture, through the General Directorate for Community Development, decided to launch the “Classrooms for the Third Age” program in Spain, following the example of the “Third University Age, “founded in 1973 in Toulouse (France). They thus responded to the educational and cultural needs and demands of people over 60 years of age.

 

The Classrooms of Santiago de Compostela and Vigo, directed at that time by the Jesuit Father Francisco Gómez, were one of the founding and pioneering cities; and they gave rise to organize the I Founding Congress of the Classrooms of the Third Age of Spain, which held in Compostela.

Since its foundation, ATEGAL has been a member of the International Association of Classrooms for the Elderly (AIUTA) and the Spanish Confederation of Classrooms for the Elderly (CEATE).

OUR EVOLUTION IN INFOGRAPHICS

1978-1980

PHASE

Experimental pilot

The bases, the objectives, the methodology, and the planning of the areas of basic activities to be developed by the “Classrooms for the third age” were established

1980-1982

PHASE

Consolidation and deepening

Growth in the number of students and centers. The creation of a center in A Coruña stands out, in which the evolution of activities and programs to more original and participatory ones were key.

For example: culture and improvement of the quality of life, comprehensive health and well-being of the elder

1982-1984

PHASE

Of decentralization and regional expansion

The constitution in Spain of the Autonomies favored the strengthening and recognition, both nationally and internationally, of the benefit of their social action to the group of the elderly.

The role of P. Gómez, as director of the Aulas de Vigo and as an expert guest at Councils of European Ministers and at the First World Assembly on Aging, held in Vienna, becomes relevant.

1984-To the present

PHASE

Normalization and growth

There are 98 “Classrooms for the Third Age” that works throughout all Spanish communities effectively.

In 1986, the annual celebration of the Encounters of the Classrooms of Galicia begins.

In 1993 the entity received the “Silver Medal for Citizen Merit” from the Santiago City Council.

In 1995 the Galician Cultural Association for the Permanent Formation of Adults was created, which began to manage the Classrooms for the Elderly of Galicia.

In 2002 we received recognition from the Spanish Red Cross for Voluntary Action in Madrid
Since 2014 we are members of EAEA: European Association for the Education of Adults
Finalists in the 2018 Silver Economy Awards
Since 2019, ATEGAL is registered as a Voluntary Action Entity.

Under the current Presidency of Fr. Rafael Romero, the Classrooms manage to improve their financial situation considerably and a renovation phase begins.

During the last years, several projects have been awarded by the Xunta de Galicia, Obra Social Caja Madrid, Obra Social Viure and Conviure de la Caja Catalunya, the Pedro Barrié de la Maza Foundation or Obra Social Bancaja.

Likewise, the annual collaboration agreements with the three Galician universities and the collaboration with the town councils or deputations, in which the classrooms are located, for the realization of annual projects stand out.