During the evening of the 16th August, when it became clear that the fire in the Castro Marim area was going to become a major incident, members of the East Algarve Walking Football/East Algarve Football Club committee started to coordinate a response on behalf of its members.
Liaison was made with Karen Howard-Goldsmith and Debby Burton from Associacao Alerta de Incendio and a list of what was needed and to where it should be taken was obtained.
On the morning of Tuesday 17th with the fire still burning and the incident ongoing, contact was made with Tavira Bombeiros direct to ensure we would be supplying what was needed.
Because of everyone’s rush to help the Bombeiros from the community, what was needed was not readily available in the local shops; Nuno from Coviran in Santa Luzia agreed to purchase what was needed direct from the wholesaler and supply the transport to deliver it.
Over 500€ of water, drinks, food and fruit was delivered to the Bombeiros and at the same time a further donation of water and food was delivered by George Allen after taking a small collection from those playing walking football that morning.
Further donations will be made by East Algarve football clubs following continued discussions with the Association.
We will also be picking up and transporting supplies from pick up points to Tavira Bombeiros.
As always, a huge thanks to members for their donations and of course a huge thanks of gratitude to the Bombeiros who are risking their lives daily.
Your phone call was a welcome relief , living in the Silves area , I was out of my comfort zone , not knowing the area well.
You have been a pleasure to work with , making my life a lot easier .
Thank you for the continued support .
I look forward to working together in the future .
Thank you for being part of an amazing community
Debby Burton , president Alerta
Thank you Debby.
I am the East Algarve Coordinator for Alerta, and I have been away for the past two weeks (back in Tavira now ,thankfully), which was extremely bad timing when there was such a very big fire in our area.
I would like to sincerely thank you very much for all the help that you gave, which made such a difference and I hope that we can continue to work together in the future, supporting our fantastic Bombeiros.
Thank you!