Amovate is seeking more new members—and this is why…

Vale da Telha will see some changes in the coming months and years.

There will be a new Government policy set in motion for this part of the National Park which will have repercussions for all of us.

Since the previous Prime Minister José Sócrates and Environment Minister Francisco Nunes Correia visted Vale da Telha six years ago—and invited Amovate officials to meet them over a lunch with various dignitaries from the Camara and other public bodies—we have kept open a dialogue with the authorities to make sure we were fully informed and kept in the loop over these plans.

Also, we are currently fighting to have high-speed fibre optic broadband delivered to Vale da Telha after the Park Authorities refused to allow the relay towers to be installed, despite the Government’s pledge to have the service rolled out to every home.

This meant the company providing the service to the Algarve simply by-passed Vale da Telha at the bottom of the hill and continued down towards Lagos, leaving all of us up here on with what one MEO employee described this week as “the worst broadband service on the Algarve”.

We wrote to the President of Portugal and the Prime Minister of Portugal some months ago voicing our outrage that the Park authorities overruled the Prime Minister’s office, and had replies from both saying they would pursue the matter.

Now, within the last week they have followed up those letters by again writing to Amovate to say the Prime Minister and the President’s offices had passed on the letters to the appropriate departments and told them to investigate.

As you can see, Amovate is constantly active on your behalf and that of the community.

Five years ago we launched a campaign to have electricity supplier EDP improve the service to Vale da Telha residents in the face of constant power outages—and soon saw an investment here by the company that greatly improved the service. But we will continue to press for a further improvement to eradicate the problem.

Remember, too, that we restored the lakeside walk, making it possible to complete the full circuit by bridging that notorious gap along the path.

We supplied wheelchairs and other equipment to Portimao Hospital’s orthopaedic unit, a laptop for a rehabilitation centre that had helped two of our residents, a pain-relieving ripple bed for another charity and many other donations to various charitable causes.

Amovate played a key role with Dr David Quinton in launching the drive for two state-of-the-art defibrillators to be placed with the Bombeiros and in the Hotel Vale da Telha for the use of residents, with dozens of volunteers being trained in CPR at Amovate Old School House HQ.

And, of course, we made headline news here in Portugal and in the UK by working with UK Fire Service charities to have €50,000 worth of fire fighting and rescue equipment shipped out to Aljezur Bombeiros at no cost to them.

Our “Amovate in the community” programme was launched to place various functions with local restaurants and bars to support them through the recession, and has been warmly received and backed by the community.

The Old School House is a hive of activity through the week with various classes and our tennis section is going from strength-to-strength, becoming self-sufficient to the point where a fair sum of money has been spent refurbishing the courts, the nets and the net posts.

As you may be aware Amovate have been making significant strides in the local area, from forging stronger links with the Camara to strengthening our relationships with local businesses and businessmen, some of whom joined the Committee.This has been due to them all realising that we need to keep our membership growing so we have an even louder voice in the community, which makes it more possible for us to get things done.

It is in the interests of us all to increase the levels of our membership numbers and retain that strength-through-numbers ethos that has raised our profile in the area.

To that effect we would like to ask all members and former members to please renew their €15 annual subscriptions and help us to continue making a difference to our Community.

And if you have never been a member, then please think about joining us and playing your part in making Vale da Telha and the surrounding areas an even better place to live.

You can do this by:

………clicking on the Membership form below, to download your form.  Alternatively, if you are unable to print the form, you can collect one from the Amovate office.  This can be handed in to the Amovate office with your €15.00 and your Membership Card will be ready for collection in a couple of days.

Alternatively, if you are an existing Member wishing to renew, simply drop in your old card and your €15.00 at the office, and your new Membership Card will be processed in a few days.

Thank you for your support.

MEMBERSHIP FORM