A charity such as HELP Vega Baja exists purely because of the dedication of its volunteers and supporters. One such volunteer is our dear friend Ann Townsend. Ann joined the charity in 2009 and has played a major part in raising much needed funds at Campoamor Market every Thursday.
Come rain, wind or sun Ann was there. She became an extremely popular person with other stall holders and of course customers. The income Ann’s hard work provided has been tremendous over the years and enabled the charity to support many people within the community who were struggling in one way or another.
With an unforgettable laugh and sense of humour people went along each week to support Ann and even donated many items of clothing for her to sell to raise funds. Sadly, then came Covid!
Despite all the clothes that we sold being sanitized not only before they reached the market but also on the day they were sold, the local council decided they did not want “second hand” items being sold, and Ann was told to leave!
Believe me, Ann fought her corner as did the charity, but we have now accepted that we cannot have a stall at Campoamor and with the support of our Treasurer and other volunteers, we are now attending various other markets, stalls and car boots around the area to continue our fund raising.
We are delighted to say that we may have lost the stall, but we have certainly not lost Ann! When restrictions permit, Ann will be back co-ordinating the Friendship Centre at La Zenia.
For more information of the various venues we will be attending (these are of course in addition to our charity shop in San Miguel which is open every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 am to 1.30 pm), please send follow or message our Facebook page or visit www.helpvegabaja.com where we will shortly be publishing not only our selling venues but also awareness sessions.
We would like to hear from any bar/café who would like our “tour bus” to come along with a stand to raise awareness of how we can support people, answer questions and offer our memberships at just 10 euros per annum.
NB All services offered by the charity are completely free including assistance with applications for Attendance Allowance. However, HELP Vega Baja members receive additional benefits including free 150 euros of interpreting service, annual blood analysis at Quiron Hospital and discounts on many other items – full details on our website.
