Girem Full: A reading and solidarity network against cancer

The head of the Philanthropy Area at Clínic, Núria Vilamajó, receives us in her office, across from the hospital. A pile of papers lies scattered across the table: they are book reviews written by participants in the latest Girem Full reading marathon — a project that received The New Barcelona Post’s Premi Cultura as part of the Fundació Catalunya Cultura’s Impulsa Cultura programme. But they are not just papers: each one has generated a €20 donation, funding 10 minutes of cancer research.

Together, since the project’s inception in 2024, they total nearly 15,400 reviews, translating into 2,000 hours of cancer research. In three editions, the project has evolved into a network involving Clínic, researchers, bookstores, schools, companies and readers. Yet this entire network began simply with a patient and a breakfast.

— Girem Full was born out of a strong desire to bring different worlds together: the world of books and the world of health and research. I always explain that the project was born over breakfast and coffee, with a patient, a doctor and myself. We wanted to do something, but we didn't know what, because, at first glance, they seemed like very distant worlds.

— The patient was Olga Federico, from La Impossible bookstore.

— She had been treated at Clínic for cancer. She said she felt the need and the desire to do something to give back to society what it had given her, which, ultimately, was her life. Had she received the diagnosis two, three, ten or twenty years earlier, perhaps she wouldn't be here today. And that made her realise the importance of promoting research and giving back to society what it gives us. What I do and contribute today will help others have the same chance at life that I have had. It's a chance at life.

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— And she wanted to contribute to giving more opportunities in the future. 

— Exactly. The project, however, started with a very different format. We were clear that we wanted to unite research, assistance, and books, and we started doing it with merchandise in bookstores, with bags, bookmarks… Many bookstores joined, but it didn't quite take off. 

"What I do today, what I contribute, will help others have the same chance at life that I have had. It’s a chance at life"

— And then, the pandemic arrived. 

— Covid served to stop the project, and it was positive. That stop allowed us to think a lot and reflect on what model we should follow, and it was not that of merchandising. In that parenthesis, we saw that what we had to do was activate the community, knock on the door of donors, and involve children. We are talking about research for the future, and the future is today's children. We wanted to go beyond merchandising, and contribute to transforming society, asking society to be more supportive. 

— Through reading. 

— The process is very simple: participants read a book and write a review. For each review, reading sponsors make a contribution, which translates into research time. This contribution is €20 per review, which translates into 10 minutes of research.

— Therefore, one book, 10 more minutes of cancer research. 

— So far, more than 40,000 reviews have been converted into more than 6,000 hours of cancer research.

— And how does one participate? 

— Fundraising takes place all year round, but the reading marathon is concentrated in one month: it runs from March 21, World Poetry Day, until Sant Jordi. During this period, bookstores inform and collect book reviews. There is no need to buy them or for them to be new, it can be any book, and reviews can also be done online. It is, simply, reading and participating. Now we are also opening it up to companies, and schools have been protagonists from the beginning. 

— With children as a vector of transformation. 

— Exactly. Girem Full is a project that generates community, but, instead of us encouraging participation, it is the children. We want them to be the ones who encourage participation when they get home after school. We want them to be the engine of a transformative project. 

— Children, the engine, and reading, the vehicle?

— We found in books a very natural way to do it. We invite people to read and foster reading skills. We are seeing reports that warn of low levels of reading comprehension, so let's give them another reason to read.

— And reading translates into research time.

— Yes, and this also helps children assimilate the concept of time, now very diluted by the immediacy we are used to. 

"In the first year, we raised €120,000; in the second, €353,000, with more than 19,000 reviews. For the next edition, we’re aiming to raise €600,000"

— And this research time reaches the Clínic. 

— Yes, but we don't do it alone. Girem Full is also a collaborative project from within, and we knocked on the door of the Fundació Collserola, which represents the educational scope of the project, and the Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya. As of now, more than 50 bookstores and 40 schools participate. With the three pillars, the project is complete.

— How is the balance between reviews received and donations found?

— We do a lot of work approaching donors from the Patronage Area, and they get excited about the project when they see that they not only contribute to research, but also to the promotion of reading and solidarity. Also, more and more, we receive many small contributions, of 20, 40 or 60 euros. Often they are people who go to bookstores, write their review, and self-finance their reading. And that is what we want to promote. It is important to have donors who give stability to the project and make it sustainable, and also to create this solidarity community. 

— Also through companies?

— This year we have done a taste with companies, and we have seen that the project has value for them. A company can propose to its employees to read and that, for each book read, they make a contribution, and even involve their families, and propose it as a challenge, because that encourages. 

— And this network is expanding. 

— Yes, with bookstores as a neuralgic point. We want to create a large community that mobilizes through reading, that transmits that research not only needs money, but also time. 

— And there are already more than 6,000 hours, with 240,000 euros raised. Do you set a target figure for the next edition? 

— The first year we reached 120,000 euros; the second, 353,000 with more than 19,000 reviews. For the next edition, we want to reach 600,000 euros. 

— That's practically double this year's. 

— We will knock on every door. Donors, schools, companies… We will mobilize the community, so that everyone can join. Girem Full is a living project, and we are continuously introducing pilot tests, to see what works and what we can do differently. This makes the project grow little by little, with prudence and analyzing each step. 

— An example of a pilot test? 

— Apart from companies, this year we introduced the figure of the little ambassadors, a group of children from schools whom we gathered and explained the project and what research is, what cancer is, cells or immunotherapy. It worked very well: they then went on to explain it class by class, even to the management. This year, we want to extend this experience to all participating schools. 

— And continue expanding this mechanism. 

— And strengthening a component that we want to reinforce, which is to bring research closer to the classrooms, and generate a dialogue between the professionals of the Clínic and the schools. We want research to be close to the participants. 

"Reading is an individual act: you pick up your book, and you read. But what we are doing is turning an individual act into a network gesture. We make my book add up with yours, and with yours, and with theirs. And that's how we create a solidarity network"

— Both children and adults. 

— Exactly. In fact, most online reviews are from adults. Most express gratitude, towards the donors and towards the project, because it allows them to be supportive without the need to make an economic donation. [She picks one up: “Thanks to Girem Full. I can be supportive, and I hadn't been able to do it until now.” She picks up another and another, and most express the same]. 

— An expression of how this network is generated. 

— Reading is an individual act: you pick up your book, and you read. But what we are doing is turning an individual act into a network gesture. We make my book add up with yours, and with yours, and with theirs. And that's how we create a network. A reading, solidarity network, in which everyone can contribute.