by Matt D’Arcy
The teacher said to the children: “The Christmas Angel has come early”.
The teacher was in charge of Aljezur School’s special needs section, and the ‘Angel’ was our own charity fund-raiser Cath Baker, bringing gifts to light up those young faces.
Presentation at School.Cath is behind boy with tricycle
You will recall that Cath had, with Steve Scott and Brian Jutsum, once again organised a charity bar walk in September which raised a total of €2,305 for local children’s charities.
The walkers, most of them in fancy dress, completed the 3.45km route for fun, but they were aware there was a serious purpose behind the smiles and frivolities.
It was the second of these annual charity walks supported by Amovate, and the 2015 “fun pub crawl” resulted in Cath & Co handing over 29 wheelchairs and other equipment to Portimao Hospital.
This time the end result was reflected in donations closer to home with the Aljezur School and the local St Vincent de Paul Society being the grateful beneficiaries.
Cath described her visit to the special needs class with co-organiser Steve Scott and fellow charity walkers Faith Quinton and Cath’s daughter Emily—a former pupil at the school—as “tearful, emotional and at the same time joyful”, adding:
“Sometimes you really understand what the Bible meant with the words ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive”.
Bed presentation
A few days earlier Cath had met representatives of the St Vincent de Paul Society at Arrifana—
where the charity walk began—to present them with an electric bed that will be used by local boy Nuno André Chirac Ribeiro who is suffering from a degenerative disease.
The Society also received eight blankets plus schoolbooks, pens, crayons etc., all to be distributed to needy children in the Aljezur area.
Also, the Society identified another local child who had required urgent dental treatment, and Cath visited the dentist to pay off the remaining €400 still outstanding on the bill his family were struggling to pay.
The remainder of the funds raised on the walk went to the school in Aljezur.
Cath told us: “Both the teachers and the St. Vincent de Paul Society are overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity of the local people and can’t believe how much money has been raised by walking.
“The school equipment is vital, as the school does not have the funds for these kinds of things”.
Special needs Play Equipment
She went on: “Before we bought anything we consulted with the special needs teachers to discuss exactly what we should do to make sure everything we donated would be useful and would have a positive impact on the children’s daily lives at the school.
“They gave it careful consideration before telling us exactly what they wanted and needed, so nothing we then bought was wasted or surplus to requirements.
“One of the items was a tricycle, for example, because some of the children cannot ride a normal two-wheel bicycle. And when we showed it to them, several of them were soon riding it around the playground—perhaps their first time ever riding a bike.
“Some of the equipment was from the UK, the rest bought in Portugal, and it consisted of educational, therapeutic and sensory toys all designed with special needs children in mind.
Algarve Removals
“We must thank John Scott at Algarve Removals who once again transported the items for free from the UK, just as they did last year with the 29 wheelchairs we donated to Portimao Hospital.
“The teachers assured us when they examined what we had donated that every single item of the toys and equipment will be of use and will be put to good use.
“And it was clear the children agreed. They were excited and overwhelmed, coming up and hugging myself, Steve, Faith and Emily and we were all pretty tearful, I don’t mind admitting.
Special needs play equipment
“It was a humbling but magical experience, an amazing feeling to see the children so happy, and that night I went to sleep with a big smile on my face!”
As a ‘thank-you’ gesture, the school presented Cath with a special tile made by the students. And she, Emily, Steve Scott and Faith Quinton were also invited to the school’s Festa de S. Martino with musical entertainment and special autumn food dishes prepared by the students, teachers and school helpers.
They told her that they needed to purchase musical and stage equipment for a talent show they were organising and as they were somewhat inexperienced in the area of fund raising they were hoping to enlist their experience in this regard.
They couldn’t choose a better person!
Bed presented to Nuno
Special needs toys and play equipment
School presented Cath with a tile made by the children
Toys and play equipment
