We have been the heart of Turin since 1955
All newspapers have a history. Only La Stampa, Turin’s newspaper, has a heart: Specchio dei tempi, the column that has been giving readers a voice since 1955. A space for debate and sharing from which was born a non-profit foundation that transforms the generosity of thousands of donors into practical projects in favour of the weakest.
The column is born
On December 17, the director Giulio De Benedetti introduces the column Specchio dei tempi in La Stampa: a space reserved for readers who can write opinions, tell experiences, report injustices. But also offer their solidarity, moral and material, to needy families or victims of episodes of suffering. The first donations go to two children who lose their father in an accident in Turin, a tragedy told that day in the news.
The Vajont disaster
Over the years, readers decide to support populations overwhelmed by the most serious national and international disasters. The first major subscription is opened after the Vajont disaster, in which 1900 people die. The newspaper immediately begins a race against time to bring readers' aid to the people of Friuli. Specchio learns that in emergencies it is not enough to do well, things have to be done quickly.
The famine in India
Europe is moved by the reports of hunger in India: the people of Turin are mobilized and in a month they collect almost one billion lire. Charter flights take off from Caselle airport loaded with food donated by the readers of La Stampa. It is the beginning of an extraordinary international solidarity story which will see Specchio dei tempi take a leading role in Africa, Asia and America, in the poorest countries of the world. From Haiti to Ecuador, via the Syrian refugee camps.
The Belice earthquake
Sicily is on its knees: 16 shocks, 380 dead. A subscription is opened and five journalists begin to travel around the destroyed towns, to distribute cash, alleviate desperation and cover basic necessities. A receipt is made of each donation and then a long and detailed list. The 130 million euros that Specchio is able to collect in 1970 for the restoration of the famous San Marco bronze horses in Venice is managed with the same transparency.
The first Thirteenth Salaries
An institution dedicated to solidarity projects is created with the enthusiasm of readers and journalists: the La Stampa - Specchio dei tempi Foundation is born on February 24 and immediately launches the "Thirteenth Salaries of Friendship". An initiative that continues today and offers practical support to poor and lonely elderly people. The first contribution is 30,000 lire, given to 30 elderly people. By now the over 65’s involved in the project are 2000 every Christmas, and each one receives 500 euros, for a total of 1 million euros donated.
The earthquake in Irpinia
Three thousand dead, three hundred thousand displaced. Campania is devastated by a huge tragedy. Thanks to the generosity of the readers, a village with 70 houses is built in Lioni. Already four years earlier, in 1976, the foundation had mobilized for the earthquake in Friuli: columns of caravans loaded with aid had left from Piedmont. In the 70s and 80s, Specchio dei tempi specializes in bringing immediate help in emergencies and in 1988 it is recognized as a non-profit organization.
The flood in Piedmont
In early November, the geography of the provinces of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo is overwhelmed by the fury of water and mud. The flood devastates Piedmont on the Tanaro axis, and the readers of La Stampa collect the record figure of 25 billion lire. The highest ever recorded in Italy with a non-television subscription. Bridges, schools, kindergartens: donations turn into dozens of projects. For months, Specchio's correspondents distribute envelopes with cash to the most desperate families.
The Chapel of the Turin Shroud
A fire strikes in the heart of Turin: the Guarini chapel is on fire, the city is shocked and upset and once again Specchio dei tempi is there. 1.24 billion lire is donated, a fundamental support for the twenty-year restoration concluded in 2018 and directed by the Superintendency. Also in 1997, the foundation intervenes in Umbria and Marche, after the earthquake, rebuilding a school and outpatient clinics.
The Tsunami in Asia
The tsunami in Sri Lanka, Thailand and India brings Specchio to a new awareness: the possibility of intervening with multi-year initiatives also abroad. So the foundation decides to remain in Sri Lanka even after the emergency and to offer medical support to the injured, it builds a village consisting of five family houses. In 2012 the village is reconverted to host girls who are victims of abuse or neglect: our daily commitment against violence towards women.
The Hargeisa hospital
After the famine of 2011, Specchio decides to intervene in Somaliland and in 2012 opens a subscription to build a hospital in Hargeisa. Equipped with 45 beds and an emergency room, the facility is donated to the local government. In 2018 the non-profit organization creates another neonatology department and in 2019 we double our commitment in Africa by restructuring the schools of Nganzo, Rwanda. We activate a mobile clinic programme to treat Burma's children.
The Regina Margherita children's hospital
Breakfasts for the Poor
Thanks to the legacy and generosity of readers, Specchio begins a complex restructuring of the Turin children's hospital. First outpatient clinics, then cardiology, CPR and finally neuropsychiatry: in five years over 5 million euros are allocated to four different construction sites. In the summer of 2019, a child receives a heart transplant and is reborn, after over 500 days of hospitalization and a record intervention in the Specchio wards.
The earthquake in central Italy
After rebuilding the schools hit by the earthquake in Abruzzo and Emilia, Specchio adopts Arquata del Tronto, a municipality that in the summer of 2016 has 51 victims and is razed to the ground. Thanks to a collection of over 3 million euros, the foundation builds the school complex (2017) and the gym (2018) in record time; promotes a tender for small businesses (2019); and launches a family aid plan: for each infant, a cheque for 2 thousand euros.
Specchio Point Opens
A help desk in the heart of the city. In via Santa Maria 6h in Turin, the "emergency room" of Specchio Point opens: a space where 12 needy families are welcomed every day. From bills to unpaid rents, problems are solved in a few hours. Especially those of single mothers, to whom a specific programme has been dedicated since 2017, which in addition to providing financial assistance promotes reintegration into the workplace.
The school in Mexico
The twenty-sixth school rebuilt by Specchio dei tempi opens in September: it is located at the foot of a volcano, at 2000 meters, and welcomes 100 children of families, victims of the earthquake that rocked Mexico a year earlier. Thanks to the "Let's connect the children of the world" project, Mexican students make friends online with children from other Specchio schools: from that of Arquata to the one created in 2015 in Nepal, at 4000 meters, on the slopes of Everest.
The Sant'Anna day hospital
A 1.2 million euro commitment and a large construction site at the Sant'Anna hospital: to be at the side of women who are fighting cancer, Specchio dei tempi restructures the Turin oncology day hospital. The footballer Barbara Bonansea is chosen as the symbol of the battle against female cancer, the first testimonial of its history. In the same year, the radiology department of the Mauriziano Hospital of Turin is also renewed.
The battle against Covid
As in all emergencies Specchio dei tempi is present: immediately. To combat Coronavirus, the foundation raises over 10 million euros, with donations from 70 countries around the world immediately transformed into practical aid. In the first 100 days, one million items of protective equipment and dozens of machines are delivered to Piedmont hospitals; 17 thousand free grocery deliveries to families in need in six regions and 430 aid contributions to companies in difficulty in Turin, Cuneo and Sassari. Hundreds of sanitizing kits and 1000 tablets are supplied to schools, to encourage distance learning first and then recovery.
August also sees the launch of the Forza Nonni! project, which aims to promote the well-being of beneficiaries by actively supporting their quality of life through integrated interventions.
Concrete Help for Emergencies
The Foundation has continued its support for the most vulnerable: aid to families through Specchio Point has increased, as well as the number of "Thirteenth Month of Friendship" grants distributed during the Christmas period. To ensure continuous assistance to the most fragile elderly people, we have expanded the Forza Nonni! project in Piedmont: today, 150 seniors over 80 receive daily support and companionship.
Following the earthquake in Haiti, immediate relief efforts were launched, including aid and shelter for the injured, along with the shipment of a container filled with essential goods.
From the Ukraine Crisis to the Marche Flood
This year was marked by interventions to support the victims of the Ukrainian conflict, ranging from transportation to Italy and financial assistance for refugee families (in collaboration with the Ukrainian Consulate in Turin) to the establishment of shelters in Ukraine and the provision of vehicles, meals, and other essential supplies.
Following the flood that struck the Marche region in September 2022, Specchio dei Tempi, in synergy with Specchio d’Italia, immediately took action. Rapid initiatives were launched to support small businesses and local artisans affected by the devastating mud, as well as to help young people pursue their dreams in education or professional endeavors.
Immediate Solidarity
On February 6, Specchio dei Tempi and Specchio d’Italia launched a subscription to support the populations affected by the earthquake in Syria and Turkey. The timely and generous solidarity allowed donations to be quickly transformed into concrete help: from the sending of basic necessities to the construction of structures to house displaced people. The flood that hit Emilia-Romagna in May found an immediate response with the collection of approximately 2.3 million euros, thanks also to the important contributions of the Satispay Community, Luve-Group, Lavazza and Iveco, used to revive eight schools and help more than 100 small businesses.
In addition, the Forza Bimbi! project was born, selected by Con i Bambini within the framework of the Fund for the fight against child educational poverty.
A concrete commitment to communities
In 2024, Specchio dei tempi carried out numerous interventions to help those living in emergency and difficult situations.
In January, the Capucci Municipal Infant School in Lugo was reopened, completely renovated after the flood of May 2023, and planning began for the rebuilding of the Il Girasole municipal nursery school in Sant'Agata sul Santerno.
We also donated a state-of-the-art neonatal ventilator to the Sant'Anna Hospital in Turin and, in February, the most innovative instrument for diagnosing retinal diseases to the Ospedale Mauriziano.
In the second half of the year, we supported the prevention of women's cancers with the Vittoria for Women Tour, helped the communities affected by the flooding in Val di Susa with the reconstruction of a bridge, and restored the orphanage in Kekkadura, Sri Lanka, which was devastated by typhoons.
In November, the collection of EUR 60,000 for the flooding in Valencia enabled timely interventions, while in December a new campaign was launched to rebuild the village of Specchio dei in Ukraine, destroyed by a Russian attack.
Furthermore, in December, in addition to the historic delivery of the Tredicesima dell'Amicizia to more than 2,000 elderly people in Piedmont and Liguria, we donated household appliances for families in the lower Romagna region affected by the September floods for a total of €25,000 in vouchers.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Specchio dei tempi turned every contribution in 2024 into concrete help for those who needed it most.