Set up in March, the Résilience project (https://projet-resilience.fr/) is a nationwide organisation bringing together SMEs in the textile sector, social and professional integration enterprises and sheltered employment enterprises like APF France Handicap or Log'ins, to ensure the emergency manufacture of millions of washable masks in France.

During the current health crisis, a movement of solidarity sprung up among the permanent staff at Emmaüs Défi, who were keen to join the Résilience project and contribute to the manufacture of masks. Since 27 April, a dozen employees and volunteers at Emmaüs Défi have been working on a voluntary basis to make washable masks approved by the French Defence Procurement Agency. These masks are mainly intended for associations who have contact with the public, public services (schools, social workers, police, etc.) and companies in priority sectors (food, energy, water, etc.).
The Eiffage Foundation has been supporting Emmaüs Défi since 2018, with the help of sponsors Jean-Paul Chaignon, a careers manager in the Infrastructures branch, and Alexandra Ouareff, a communications manager at Eiffage Construction. The Foundation also supports the RéaVie association, which works to promote the re-use of construction materials and the circular economy. As RéaVie already had a sewing workshop, it wanted to participate in this "communal effort". The Eiffage Foundation naturally put the two associations in contact. Two volunteer seamstresses from RéaVie will be helping to assemble the masks for as long as needed.

Created in 2007 and part of the Emmaüs movement, Emmaüs Défi is a laboratory for social innovations that seeks out the best solutions to fight against extreme exclusion and enable everyone to regain their dignity and a place in society. The association employs 150 employees on back to work schemes, 60 permanent employees and 70 volunteers, who work mainly in recycling used items in the 19th district of Paris. The Emmaüs Défi association supports the ReCréateurs project, which aims to re-use wood and textile materials due to be recycled, while promoting the professional integration of people in extreme difficulty.

RéaVie was founded in 2017, with the aim of reducing waste in the construction sector, while promoting the professional integration of people in difficulty in the Île-de-France area. Between 2017 and 2019, approximately 1,238 cubic metres of materials were recovered and re-used (i.e. saved from the skip) and 3,406 work integration hours made available for people excluded from the workplace in the Île-de-France area. The association is sponsored by M'Hamed Ahmimid, a design draftsman at Eiffage Energie Systèmes, and Isabelle Dessuet, a communications manager at Eiffage Immobilier. Many employees of the Eiffage group volunteer at the association, which develops solidarity platforms for the re-use of materials.

You can submit your project to the Eiffage Foundation online by clicking on: projets.solidaires.fondation.eiffage.com
We advise that you contact the Foundation beforehand to check if your project is eligible: Tel. 0171591118