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EUROPEAN expats have handed over literally millions of euros to local charities over the years – in fact, barely a month goes by without an association, club, society or bric-à-brac shop organising a cheque presentation.
Many take on a specific charity or cause long-term or per year, with all social events involving fund-raisers, whilst others decide which way to split the pot at the year end in their AGM.
Spain's Costas and islands are replete with charity shops, bursting with second-hand books and clothing – typically, the latter is very high quality and sometimes involves end-of-line designer stock sold on commission, meaning real bargains can be found.
Such bargains, sometimes, that you find yourself insisting on paying over the odds, refusing to take 'no' for an answer, and even then come away feeling as though you've robbed them.
They started out life very much as a foreign concept. Some 30 or 40 years ago or even in the early 2000s, it was not unusual for a charity shop run entirely by volunteer pensioners who had moved to Spain from another part of the continent to get an impromptu Work Inspectors' visit and bewildered retirees ordered to show their job contracts and Social Security numbers. Nowadays, these delightful treasure troves are part of the furniture, volunteers attending to customers are just as likely to be locally-born Spaniards – as are the customers themselves – and town councils are full of praise for their efforts. So, although we cannot call charity shops 'an expat thing', they were, arguably, introduced by expats – further evidence, as if we needed any, that all countries benefit from foreign nationals moving in and bringing new ideas with them.
And whether you're on the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, or another ultra-cosmopolitan expat belt, holiday hotspot or both, you're practically guaranteed to find social, hobbies and sports groups run by your compatriots where you can make friends who speak your language.
Finding your feet
With such a wide span of organisations to join, it helps make a move to a brand-new country and culture less daunting; however exciting this overseas relocation might be – and it is – nobody can deny it's a major life-changing decision. Even if you're seeking total immersion when you get there, living the life, language and culture of the native inhabitants, plunging into the thick of it all, avoiding your fellow countrymen and women and speaking your mother tongue as little as possible, if ever, the initial 'lost' feelings of being severed from your roots can still strike. At first, making friends or, at least, contacts, among other non-Spaniards, and of your own nationality if you can, is sometimes a comfort blanket in the early weeks or months and offers a sense of 'belonging' and 'familiarity' until you get fully established and feel totally at home.
Ex-Forces members are particularly well-represented communities on the Costas; also, national societies found in the UK, such as the Royal Air Force Association (RAFA), the Royal British Legion, the Royal Saint George's Society, Lions' Club, Salvation Army, or the fun 'new-skills-and-new-friends' network for the over-55s, the U3A, have a strong presence throughout Spain with branches dotted all along the coasts.
And at nearly all of these, lunch meetings, dinner-dances, golf tournaments and similar social events also serve as fundraising activities, through your entry tickets, donation whip-rounds whilst you're there, raffle tickets, and so forth, meaning you'll be making a real difference to the world and those who need support just by going out for a meal, hitting the disco, or playing a few holes on your local green.
Torrevieja 'Shipmates' help AFA Alzheimer's and MABS cancer support associations
One of these groups is the Royal Navy Association, whose members are known as 'Shipmates' – their branch in Torrevieja (southern Alicante province) has just made three charities several hundreds of euros better off.
During the AGM this week, the 'Shipmates' voted to set aside €900 of Association funds over the coming year and split the cash equally between The Naval Children's Charity, the Torrevieja branch of the AFA Alzheimer's Association, and the cancer care and support charity, MABS.
Founded by Jacqui Philips in 1999 after her own gruelling ordeal – which she survived, against the odds – in the northern Alicante province area, MABS grew swiftly from a small bunch of recovering breast cancer patients meeting for a cuppa and a chat to a full-scale practical, medical and emotional support system, complete with qualified nurses and doctors, care workers, and even a complete day retreat with pampering, counselling and lymphatic drainage equipment at Sol Park in Teulada-Moraira (Alicante).
Jacqui was made an MBE in the UK's 2005 New Year's Honours' List, and MABS caters for patients and their closest ones all along the coast from Valencia to Gibraltar, with five permanent support centres on the Costa Blanca and Costa Cálida.
The Royal Navy Association will donate €300 of its funds raised between now and the next AGM in April 2023 to the San Javier (Murcia) branch of MABS.
Torrevieja AFA Alzheimer's Association will benefit from the 'Shipmates' and their activities for another year running, having just received €300 from them for the 2021-2022 season.
Royal Navy Association chair Anthony Jenkins presented a cheque to AFA Torrevieja's leader, Javier Peñalva, ahead of this year's AGM and, in recognition of the water-borne veterans' ongoing support, Peñalva gave Jenkins a commemorative plaque, as shown in the picture above.
Former Navy personnel who live in or are regular visitors to the Torrevieja area are keenly invited to join the Association at its get-togethers on the first Wednesday of every month, at 17.00 in Che Loco restaurant on the urbanisation El Chaparral.
Torrevieja (and other areas) social scenes
A list as long as your arm of clubs and societies run by Brits and other English-speaking residents in Torrevieja can be viewed on the directory Torreviejainformation.com/torrevieja-social-scene, meaning everyone will be able to find something suitable to join, and get to know fellow expatriates.
Actually, the 'arm' bit is no exaggeration – in fact, it's an understatement. It's the full length of two human arms, from shoulder to wrist, plus one hand.
We know, because we measured it.
And we bet you're going to do that, too, if you check out the page, aren't you?
Of course you are, you fibber.
Given that several of the societies listed are national or international, you might be able to trace branches closer to you if you're based elsewhere on the Costas or islands.
Locating societies and clubs in your chosen area before making the move to Spain can help you establish contacts or build up acquaintanceships in advance, so it'll feel more like a homegoing than an emigration, with friends ready and waiting to meet you and already knowing you're on your way.
Oh, and massive kudos from all of us to the entire expatriate social scene in Spain for their brilliant fundraising work – and to all you volunteers out there who give up your time in charity shops, animal shelters and other excellent community causes.
Huge respect, too, for those who, like Jacqui with MABS, create support networks for these causes – for new-ish expatriates, especially, suffering a health crisis can be even more terrifying when you're in a country that's not your own, unsure of whom to turn to; such networks on the Costas can offer enormous peace of mind as well as functional help for foreign residents.
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