If it wasn’t for us Brits…

Charity and ‘Doing the Right thing’ are traits often associated with the British and one that often sets us apart. Sometimes it is contentious, for instance the UK is seen as a soft touch when it comes to asylum seekers, with literally all of them aiming for British shores despite the official line being that you claim asylum at the first safe country you arrive at.

With the UK being an island, separated by a vast swath of water, how is it that any manage to even get there? We all know it’s because the UK benefits system is bonkers, handing out money, housing, etc. to anyone of colour for fear of being deemed racist, yet British pensioners cannot make ends meet

on the meagre pension they receive, they are often unable to switch the heating on or are forced to use food banks to make ends meet. It’s shameful, but sadly not just exclusive to the UK. Here in Spain, our adopted country, there are food banks in every town. However, the vast majority of those using them are Spanish – perhaps because British residents here are unaware of how to access them or even whether they have the right to use them.

I do know that you have to register at social services in your town and they assess your needs depending on your income. However, the vast majority of these foodbanks survive on donations from shoppers, who drop items off in supermarket collection points, businesses including supermarkets, but a huge chunk comes from British expats and their fundraising efforts.

Among the many are Benidorm residents Marilyn and Peter Rogers who set up CHUMS just over three years ago and in that time have raised €15,800. Last week they had a tombola stall at the La Nucía International Day, where they managed to raise €260; they were also recently handed €500 by Matt and Becki King of The Broadway Dance Academy from ticket proceeds following their production of Peter Pan at the Casa de Cultura in Alfaz at the beginning of February.

So what do Marilyn and Peter do with this money? Well they support four local food banks - Alfaz, La Nucía, Benidorm and Finestrat – in fact, they are the biggest private donor to the Finestrat food bank. Each month they take it in turns to support one, calling the relevant social services to ask what they need. The supermarket collection trolleys seen near the checkouts generally have non-perishable goods such as rice, pasta, long life milk that are all hugely appreciated and needed. However, they will go and purchase other necessary items that are often not thought about – shampoo, shower gel, women’s sanitary products etc. They will spend up to €500 a go, then the following month go on to the next one. At Christmas, they also buy toys, sweets, chocolate and other goodies for the children of families that use the food banks.

Next week at Camping Almafra in Alfaz, there is a huge St George’s Day party on Tuesday, April 23 – each year it gets bigger and better. One of the organisers is local resident Susan Rush who has spent months planning the day.

I hope that the weather warning published by AEMET on Tuesday of severe winds and rain is correct, in that it forecasts it until Monday, meaning Tuesday will be fine. The money that is raised is also donated to charity and good causes, one of those being the Alfaz Food Bank. Last year they raised about €5,000 from the day. Of that amount, approximately €1,500 was sent to a young boy with a brain tumour, some went to cystic fibrosis and cancer and the remainder to the food bank. Again, it is us Brits that are supporting Spanish charity.

It is very seldom that you see or hear the Spanish doing such fundraisers, except say for one of the big cancer charities such as AECC or Anemona where they have a big turnout for a solidarity walk. Last year Fresh Radio also sponsored a fundraiser at the Albir Arms to support the Alfaz food bank, with entertainment and a raffle.

Every December, La Nucía resident Caroline Tyszka organises a sweet collection campaign ‘A Treat for Christmas’ – collecting sweets and chocolates for the children of families using the Alfaz food bank. A shout out to all of them for their hard work.

Dare I say that if the town halls spent less on ‘mascletás’ (daytime firecrackers), which in my humble opinion are a total waste of money, they would then have plenty of funds to run and provide for at the food banks etc. They never seem to publish how much they spend on them either; it just all gets lumped into ‘fiestas’. The big night-time firework displays at the end of the Benidorm fiesta from the Poniente beach, I understand. It brings people into the resort for the day/evening and they will probably have a meal, drink etc., so it’s good for the economy in that respect. But daytime fireworks are one Spanish oddity I will never understand.

Anyway, hope to see some of you down at Almafra on Tuesday, wearing your red and white!