Madrid, April 2, 2025. The Association of Private and Independent Schools (CICAE) and the Unoentrecienmil Foundation have signed a collaboration agreement to promote medical research in the fight against childhood leukemia and to encourage solidarity initiatives among the associated schools.
This agreement reinforces the association’s commitment to actions that raise awareness of the importance of investing in research against childhood cancer. Among the initiatives that will be promoted are La Vuelta al Cole Unoentrecienmil and Deportes contra el Cáncer Infantil, solidarity programs that encourage schools and their students to actively participate in the cause.
“Sports against childhood cancer”.
As part of this partnership, Fundación Uno Entre Cien Cien Mil will be a partner of the CICAE Sports Games. The sports day will have a solidary purpose and a commitment to children that goes beyond the promotion of sports values: The Unoentrecienmil Accelerator.
Since the Unoentrecienmil Accelerator was inaugurated at La Paz Hospital, dozens of sick children do physical exercise as part of their treatment, prescribed by their doctor.
According to the Spanish Registry of Childhood Tumors, three new cases of pediatric cancer are diagnosed daily in Spain. The good news is that approximately 83% of patients are cured.
Thus, under the slogan Sports against childhood cancer, the IX CICAE Sports Games will be held on May 6 at the “José Caballero” Municipal Sports Center in Alcobendas. More than 1,200 students will join together so that children suffering from cancer can practice exercise as a non-pharmacological therapy, thanks to the Aceleradora Unoentrecienmil project, at the Hospital La Paz in Madrid. The aim is to raise awareness among students of the real impact of physical exercise on health, specifically on the health of children suffering from cancer.
Elena Cid, General Director of CICAE, has underlined the relevance of this partnership: “This collaboration reinforces the key role of education in raising awareness and supporting research against childhood leukemia. We firmly believe that the work of our schools is not only based on transmitting academic knowledge in the best way, but also on values such as solidarity and social commitment. Through this agreement, we want to do our little bit to improve the lives of many children affected by cancer”.
Likewise, Cid highlighted the importance of the Sports against childhood cancer solidarity sports day: “Sport not only promotes values such as effort, companionship and solidarity, but also has a positive impact on health and wellbeing. With this initiative, we want students to become aware of the power of physical exercise in the recovery of children with cancer and that, through their participation, they become an active part of this solidarity goal”.
Elena Huarte-Mendicoa Loinaz, CEO of the Unoentrecienmil Foundation, said: “This agreement with CICAE is perfectly in line with the values of our foundation where we know that the way to fight against childhood cancer is by joining forces. And of course, we cannot find better partners in the fight than the children who, by playing sports, are going to help us and also, in the future, they will be people committed to their environment and will know well the value of solidarity”.
With this agreement, CICAE and the Unoentrecienmil Foundation reaffirm their commitment to offer hope and improve the quality of life of children battling childhood cancer.
About CICAE
CICAE is an association of independent private schools of national scope and international projection, whose essential purpose is the promotion and defense of free and independent education in Spain. The foundation of CICAE is based on the concern of a group of private education professionals about the situation of education in Spain in general and their area of action in particular. It currently groups 62 schools, which represent the majority of the best private schools in Spain, educating more than 60,000 students. It is a space of educational institutions of long trajectory and prestige, united by the interest of promoting common growth, innovation in teaching, effective management and facing the challenges of today’s society.
About the Unoentrecienmil Foundation
The Unoentrecienmil Foundation is dedicated to promoting research projects to find a complete cure for childhood leukemia, the most common cancer in children. In Spain, a case is diagnosed every day, which is a convulsion in families, since 20% of these children do not manage to overcome it. Unoentrecienmil is the only Spanish foundation focused exclusively on childhood leukemia.
Unoentrecienmil Research Grants
Since 2012, Unoentrecienmil has promoted 15 research projects related to the full cure of childhood leukemia: prevention, protocols, toxicity, relapses and immunotherapies, among others. The recipients include the best Spanish researchers specialized in this field, belonging to the university hospitals of La Paz, Niño Jesús, San Joan de Déu, the Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona, and scientific institutions such as the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center and the universities of Salamanca and Complutense. In total, more than 9,000,000 euros have been invested.
Aceleradora Unoentrecienmil is the Foundation’s project that incorporates physical exercise as part of the treatment for childhood cancer, after carrying out research that shows that the practice of sports accelerates the cure of cancer and reduces hospitalization time by 17%. The first Unoentrecienmil Accelerator is already offering services at the Hospital Universitario La Paz in Madrid.
