NEW CHARITY SHOP OPENS

[zilnor]

Well done everybody-  :tiphat: :clap: :tiphat: :clap:

[Lynne]

Well done - congratulations and best wishes for a great cause.

[Geminis]

Brilliant, good luck with the project and hope everything goes as planned. :tiphat:

[rozzieb]

Nice one Felipe!!! :handshake

Congratulations, hope it goes wonderfully well for everyone, organisers and recipients.

[felipe]

Good luck with shop. Looks like a number of you have worked hard to get it all set up and running. Well done to all concerned. Get it??

[ACEFUNDRAISER]

The new Age Concern shop made its debut last Saturday 16th June and it was a great success.  The shop has been gutted and refurbed by Cathy and her partner as well as some volunteers who helped with various bits n bobs.  Curtains are up, shop is nice and brightly painted, clothes are on racks and they are good to go.

The shop is located at the end of the new bridge into Arboleas and is situated to the left of the large stripey coloured building.  You can find mens/womens/childrens clothes, shoes, bric-a-brac, books, jigsaws etc all at reasonable prices and of course all for an extremely good cause.

Although centred in Arboleas, they aim to cover the additional municipalities of Zurgena, Albox, Albanchez, Cantoria and Partaloa. They We are dealing with vulnerable people and do our best to protect them.

        The first service offered is one of information and advice. This is already operational via phone, email and by personal visit. We have the connections to refer more difficult cases to ACASA - our caseworker service, which is based in the British Embassy.

        The second service, which we are currently starting to develop, is a befriender service. This consists of a very experienced manager, who runs a team of volunteers willing to visit residents over 50 in need of company or assistance. Also, we can help carers to get a much needed break from time to time. We do not provide personal care as we are not insured for this.

        The third service, which we are planning for the future is to make available disability equipment for loan in exchange for a deposit and donation. By its nature, this will take some time to accumulate, hence its introduction will be gradual.

        The fourth service we hope to develop will probably be in cooperation with the Council, because a property is needed. We would like to provide a 'drop in centre' where individuals can come for a cup of tea and someone to talk to and perhaps little groups for jigsaws, crafts and hobbies etc. Also, it would be somewhere where carers could find a little peace and quiet to chat, read a book or whatever they needed. This room would be linked to the Age Concern office, so that the advice facilities would be on hand as well. The future of this service is very much dependent on the Council's ability to build the prospective day centre, unless we can afford to rent somewhere from funds.

        For the long term, we have discussed providing a hospital visiting service for those who are on their own. This would be an expensive service to run, due to the distances involved. However, over time, if we get enough support, it should be possible eventually.

So as you can see, there is a lot going on with ACA right now, a lot of things in the pipeline and it is likely that each of us will at some point need one or more of their services.

The shop is open at the moment every Tuesday and Saturday from 10am until 1.30pm, so if you are in the area, pop in and say hello and take a look around.  If you have any unwanted saleable items, take them with you!

For further details or if you would like to become a volunteer or befriender, take a look at the new website at www.ageconcernalmanzora.com

Regards
Acefundraiser.