A bridge between business and community: strengthening local ties and continuing a people-centered entrepreneurial vision.
SPORT, INCLUSION AND SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES: THE BERNARDINO CECCARELLI FOUNDATION IS BORN
Following the passing of the founder of the Ceccarelli Group and the Libertas Martignacco Sports Club, the Foundation bearing his name is established. Sports and scholarships, employment inclusion for people with disabilities, and concrete support for birth rates are the three pillars of a project that transforms the human and entrepreneurial legacy of Cavalier Ceccarelli into actions in favour of the territory.
Transforming the values that guided the personal and entrepreneurial life of a man who, with clarity, foresight, and a deep sensitivity to innovation, represented a point of reference not only for the Friulian economy but also in the sporting and social fields. Six years after the passing of Cavalier Bernardino Ceccarelli, the family and the Ceccarelli Group, a leading company in the logistics and transport sector based in Udine, establish the Foundation named after him.
The Bernardino Ceccarelli Foundation, established by notarial deed in Udine by notary Antonella Clocchiatti with the support of the Romanelli & Partners law firm, is already accredited to the National Single Register of the Third Sector and will operate on a non-profit basis with civic, solidarity and social utility purposes.
The genesis of this initiative is recounted by Mariarosa Zermano, vice president of the group specialised in logistics and transport, now led by her son Luca Ceccarelli, wife of the founder and president of the newly established Foundation. “Since Bernardino, the founder of the Ceccarelli Group and the Libertas Martignacco Sports Club, passed away, we have felt the need to find a way to keep his memory alive. In the Foundation, we have found the legal, but above all passionate, instrument to carry on his teachings and his work.”
Three macro-areas of intervention
There are three macro-areas of intervention that reflect the major directions of Bernardino Ceccarelli's life. The first is sport, understood not only as competitive practice but as a tool for well-being, education and growth through scientific research and correct lifestyles.
The Foundation will promote access to sports activities for people with disabilities and will support the reconciliation of study and sport through scholarships for deserving athletes.
The second area is dedicated to people with disabilities and vulnerabilities, with a dual objective: to promote access to sport and to encourage employment inclusion. Among the first concrete projects already in the pipeline is the purchase of a minibus to transport people to work, allowing them to carry out their activities in person – at least a few days a week – to foster socialisation, autonomy, and full integration in corporate contexts. An initiative that will initially involve employees of the group, with the intention of gradually expanding to accommodate requests from other companies and individuals.
The third macro-area focuses on supporting families and birth rates, a topic particularly dear to the founder. "When an employee announced she was expecting – recalls Zermano – Bernardino was over the moon. He always said: as long as children are being born, there is hope." The Foundation therefore intends to intervene with concrete support measures, such as contributions for nursery fees, summer camps, and schools, also considering more structured tools if conditions allow.
"These three facets – concludes Zermano – have profoundly characterised his life and today find a stable and organised form in the statutory mission of the Foundation. We want his example to continue generating opportunities, inclusion, and trust in the future."
Through social, educational, sporting and cultural interventions, the Bernardino Ceccarelli Foundation aims to be a bridge between business and community, between memory and planning, strengthening the bond with the territory and providing continuity to an entrepreneurial vision that has always placed people at its centre. A concrete way to transform a legacy of values into actions capable of positively impacting the lives of new generations and families, in the name of a development that combines economic growth and social responsibility.