The Incubakers are having a double celebration. It has been 10 years since they started this solidarity initiative that once a month mobilises the entire community of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) for a charity breakfast. But, in addition, coinciding with their birthday, tomorrow they are serving their 100th breakfast. Congratulations!
The money raised at tomorrow’s breakfast, Tuesday 4th July, will go to Afrovaca, an NGO celebrating 20 years of buying oxen and cows for breeding in rural areas of Burkina Faso. On the occasion of its anniversary, the NGO has launched the challenge “20 years, 20 oxen” with the aim of getting 20 oxen during 2023.
But this is not the only association or cause to which the Incubakers have contributed. In 10 years – two of which have been on pause due to the pandemic – this group of residents has celebrated 100 breakfasts at the PRBB (initially on the 5th floor, and now in the interior square) and has raised more than 43,000€ for nearly eighty NGOs around the world.
However, the Incubakers are much more than a solidarity initiative: they are a self-managed community that allows you to establish links with people from other centres. “This type of social activities organised at the PRBB allow you to be in contact with people from other centres with whom you wouldn’t normally interact. This means that in a community of almost 1,700 people like the Park, you are not isolated in your day-to-day work and you open yourself up to other perspectives. It also allows you to integrate into the building and create new synergies”, explains Imma Ferrer, an employee of Consorci PRBB who has been part of the initiative from almost the very beginning.
“Initiatives such as the Incubakers mean that you don’t remain isolated in your day-to-day work”
Imma Ferrer, Consorci PRBB
Beyond breakfasts
Each breakfast is “sponsored” by a member of the Incubakers who is in charge of contacting the NGO, preparing the publicity for the event and organising the bakers. And the money raised has gone to all kinds of different causes; associations that fight for human rights, educational associations, others that fund research into rare diseases and even more specific causes such as a wheelchair for a person who needed it or school fees for a little girl. More than 50 microcredits have also been given to people from all over the world in vulnerable situations through the Kiva platform. In addition, there have also been some breakfasts organised more spontaneously following natural disasters, such as the earthquake that affected Syria, Turkey and Turkmenistan in February this year or the floods in Italy last May.
But it’s not all breakfast! The Incubakers are also consolidating their place during the Musical Lunch Breaks. Taking advantage of the summer temperatures and the music to encourage residents to stop by the PRBB’s inner square during their break, the group adds the opportunity to enjoy the show with a coffee, a cake or even a savoury snack.
Trendsetters
Last year, when the Incubakers resumed their activity at the PRBB, we at El·lipse told you that the initiative was beginning to expand. On the one hand, the IEUbakers at the University of Bristol started this adventure with Alba Fernandez-Sanles, who did her PhD at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and then took the essence of the Incubakers to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
On the other hand, the PCBakers were beginning to take shape at the Barcelona Scientific Park (PCB). Today, after having had to delay their birth due to the pandemic, they are already a reality. “We’ve copied the Incubakers template, even the logo – with permission, of course! Because, if the initiative is still running after 10 years, there’s a reason, right?” explains Will Blevins, former PRBB resident, former Incubakers coordinator, and founder of the PCB initiative, which began by raising almost 1,000€ for the war in Ukraine. Nowadays, they have already raised more than 10,000€. As Paula Nieto, co-organiser of the PCBakers, says, “thanks to the templates created by the Incubakers, which make the process easy to follow and ensure that we don’t forget anything, it is very intuitive to create your own group to organise the charity breakfasts”.
In addition, this July, the current coordinator of the Incubakers, Javier Louro from IMIM, is leaving for the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, where he will also try to set up charity breakfasts. “The Incubakers are an incredible initiative. I have been very lucky to have participated in these breakfasts for 6 years, seeing how hundreds of different projects were helped and meeting wonderful people. When I settle in my new destination, I will try to establish this beautiful tradition. I just have to think of a good name… KarolBakers, KIBakers or SweBakers?”, comments Javier. However, the Incubakers will continue their activity in the PRBB fighting for a better world, from now on under the coordination of Jackeline Severino from the CRG and Asya Krasko from MELIS-UPF.
“The Incubakers are an amazing initiative. I have been very lucky to have been involved for 6 years, seeing hundreds of different projects being funded and meeting wonderful people. When I get settled in my new destination, I will try to establish this beautiful tradition”
Javier Louro (IMIM)
From the PRBB we wish Javier the best of luck in his new stage, as well as to the PCBakers and IEUbakers. We hope that other residents leaving the PRBB have been inspired by the solidarity of the Incubakers and are encouraged to create new groups in other institutions!
But in the meantime, at the PRBB… Would you like to put on an apron and bake a delicious cake to help the Incubakers reach their 200th solidarity breakfasts?
