C.A.S.A. - the Social Club
C.A.S.A.  -  the Social Club

Latest CASA News & Notices

This page is primarily to provide notices or any other club information which has changed or become available since the last Club Newsletter.

New information is added at the top, older items are generally retained below.

 

Booking is currently open for:

 

 

 

17th April  -  Lunch at Tribulum

 

2nd May  -  A.G.M. and Dinner

 

 

 

Bookings for the above can be made by e-mail to bookings@casasocial.club or by using the

form provided on the contact page or

if you have any difficulty using these then CASA members

may contact any committee member for assistance.

 

We remind members that the annual membership (€10 per person) is

due for payment before the AGM in March.  Payment may most easily be

made in cash at any event from December to March.  If you prefer to pay by bank transfer please see any recent Newsletter.  We are unable to accept cheques.

Donation to 'Back to School Project' - August 2023

 

More information about the annual 'Back to School' project run by Castelo do Sonhos will be found lower on this page, we are pleased to have helped with this appeal since 2017.  This aims to help local families in need who are unable to afford the cost of the annual return to school for thier childfren.

Photos below show Sue Butler-Cole (left) on completion of the purchase of back-packs and suitable contents on our behalf and these in the process of being made-up for distribution.

Donation to Ukraine charity March 2022

 

During the AGM on 18th March the members present approved a suggestion to donate €500 from the current donation fund in support of aid for refugees from Ukraine. The practical aid being provided via 'Interven e Resgate Animal' / ' Animal Rescue Intervention' (IRA) who are based in Lisbon.

 

An IRA bus left Lisbon for Warsaw on March 2nd, transporting medicines and essential goods for people and animals. About 2 tonnes of humanitarian aid, 2 vehicles plus 9 IRA members representing Portugal in support of refugees from Ukraine.

The bus reached Warsaw on March 5th, and brought a total of 14 children, 29 adults/elderly and 10 dogs and cats back to safety.

On the morning of March 7th the refugees disembarked at the Lisbon Municipal Police Pavillion at a specifically set up reception area.

On 24th March the club treasurer (Margaret, on the right) handed over €500 to the local Algarve representative (Maria) of Interven e  Resgate Animal.

 

More information and contact details for anyone wishing to make a private donation, will be found on the IRA Facebook page.

 

Donation to Bombeiros

2021

 

 

On behalf of the club membership, the committee has a made a donation of €1,000 to the Bombeiros who carry out such sterling work every year, especially during the summer, keeping the public safe.  We have this time selected the Silves Bombeiros Voluntários, our last such donation having been to Portimão B.V. in 2016.  The Bombeiros have had problems for some time when called to emergencies occurring in difficult to reach locations, such as apartments on higher floors of buildings where they are unable to make use of the lifts. The normal emergency compressed air cylinders carried on the fire engines are bulky and weigh around 100Kg, carrying these up several flights of stairs can be a major problem!  We have paid for three smaller cylinders which can be carried reasonably easily by a single person, for example in a backpack.  It is the hope of B.V. Silves to equip each of their emergency vehicles with these smaller 7 liter 300BAR cylinders, these will literally save lives.
 
The photograph shows the simple handover on 23rd March to the Silves B.V. Comandante António Nunes (centre) and firefighter Álvaro Marques (right). Due to Covid-19 precautions the 'presentation' involved fewer people than normal and was fairly brief!
 
Visible just behind us in the extensive but packed garage is their latest large piece of equipment - obtained second hand from the Dutch Fire Service in 2020.  Away in a far corner of the garage is their oldest operational emergency vehicle - 60 years' service and still in (occasional) use thanks to the dedicated care of their own mechanics.
 

Donations to Charity - 2019

 

As no other requests were received at the AGM in March we will again make a donation to the Castelo do Sonhos  "Back To School"  Project (please see the 2018 & 2017 items below for more information).

 

With the money kindly donated by attendees at the annual CASA BBQ at the Holiday Inn we have been able to purchase a supply of assorted stationery items which Sue Butler-Cole informed us were required.
The photo shows Lena Reitbergen from the CASA committee with
Sue Butler-Cole (on the left) who provides invaluable assistance to Castelo do Sonhos by interfacing with ACCA and other clubs and organisations.

We still have some BBQ money left and anticipate making a further donation during August.  If any members would like to make an additional contribution towards this worthy cause please get in touch with us, every Euro helps a poor family in the Algarve.

CASA Trophies

 

We are delighted to report that, through the extreme generosity of a CASA member, we now have a superb new set of trophies. These replace the previous set which were also donated by a member around twenty years ago.

The new trophies are  expected to make thier first appearance at the Treasure Hunt in October.

Donations to Charity - 2018

 

As no other requests were received at the AGM we have again made a donation to the Castelo do Sonhos  "Back To School"  Project (see 2017 item below for more information). According to a 2018 survey the average annual cost to families of one childs school supplies is now €487, beyond the reach of poorer families. (See pages 18 and 20 of the 25 August 2018 edition of The Portugal News for more information).

With the money kindly donated by attendees at the annual CASA BBQ at the Holiday Inn we have been able to purchase 20 teenager back packs and assorted stationery items. These were delivered to the charity on 30th August where they were addded to 30 other backpacks and 50 gymbags etc. donated via various organisations.
The photo below shows Lena Reitbergen from the CASA committee with Dra. Liliana Rodriques who runs
Castelo do Sonhos. Behind Liliana is Sue Butler-Cole who provides invaluable assistance to Castelo do Sonhos by interfacing with ACCA and other clubs and organisations. We would also like to thank ‘The Golf Shack’ who kindly supplied the backpacks to us at a discounted price as their own contribution to the “Back to School” project.

 

The 50 filled backpacks collected via A.C.C.A. (including the 20 from CASA) have been delivered to Castelo do Sonhos and they started handing them out to the schoolchildren on 10th September.

GDPR

 

On May 25, 2018, a new European Union (EU) data protection law, the 'General Data Protection Regulation' (or GDPR), took effect. The GDPR gives all individuals resident in the EU more control over how their data is used and places certain obligations on all organisations that collect, hold or process information of those individuals.

Please see the last item on the 'Legal' page if you require more information.

 

Donations to Charity - 2017

 

At the 2017 AGM there were no proposals made for donations to charity this year. The committee was recently aproached by member Sue Buter-Cole on behalf of Castelo do Sonhos, the Silves based childrens charity, in respect of their annual “Back To School” project.

Whilst the Portuguese state provides free schooling with staff, text books etc. it does not provide the 'consumables' such as notepads, pencils etc. that children need. This must be supplied by their families and for the poorer families this can be a significant problem and many children start school after the summer holiday without these items.
The Back To School Project was originally started by Castelo de Sonhos for the poor children in the Silves area and for many years Celia & Dave Mossman (who have since returned to the UK) were the main organizers.  When ACCA (the children's charity from Almancil) became involved the project just grew & grew.  This year  ACCA have donated 50 (empty) backpacks to Castelo de Sonhos who now need to fill them.
C.A.S.A. has purchased and donated €100 worth of these materials for distribution in the ACCA backpacks.

You can obtain more information, including contact details, for the project and ACCA from this item on the Portugal Resident website:  http://portugalresident.com/back-to-school-appeal-to-support-needy-children

The photo below shows the previous C.A.S.A. Chairman Margaret Brito (right) presenting the purchased materials to Liliana Rodriques who runs Castelo do Sonhos.

Online Digital Security

 

Following difficulties with sending e-mails to some members early in 2017, now resolved, we have made improvements to the security of this website and to club e-mails. This should not impact your use of the site. If you do experience problems please contact us using the contact page or the contact information in the latest Club Newsletter.

From 5th June 2017 when you access this site you should always see the 'locked padlock' symbol to the left of your browser address bar. This indicates that the communication between your browser and the web-site is encrypted by using the 'HTTPS' communications protocol so that the contents can not be seen or interfered with by any third party.

Donations to Charity - 2016

 

 

As was arranged at the 2016 AGM two charitable donations were made during the summer of 2016, the larger being to the Bombeiros who carried out  sterling work over the 2016 summer. 

 

Donation to Encontrar Sonhos

 

In response to the proposal by Do Eves at the AGM the sum of €160 has been donated to this charity and used by them to purchase food supplies for the coming term. This is a very worthy cause that helps local over 18 year olds with mental disability.

The money represents the value of 'vouchers' issued to members during the last 12 months but not used.

 

Donation to Portimao Bombeiros


As the Bombeiros have been very busy recently doing a superb and vital job it has proved a little difficult to arrange the presentation. This was finally completed on Wednesday 24th August.  Portimao Bombeiros have used the €1,500 donation to purchase 160 new 'BOMBEIROS' red sweat-shirts as modelled by the two gentlemen on the left and right of the photo below.  The cheque was presented to Dr. João Nuno de Figueiredo Mergulhão (Vice President) by Margaret Brito (Chairman of CASA Social Club) assisted by João Brito acting as the Portuguese interpreter for the club.
Standing between the Bombeiros in red in the photo, from left to right are:
    Filipe A.T. Pinto (Deputy Command)
    João Brito
    Margaret Brito
    Dr. João Nuno de Figueiredo Mergulhão
    Celeste (Treasurer)
    Mário A.F.B. Freitas (Director)

 

These exceptionally brave men and women work relentlessly, day and night, to keep us all safe. The fires this year again tested them to the extremes, but they consistently rise to the dangerous challenge and we owe them our infinite gratitude.

 

Bank Account

 

Effective from the 2016 AGM we have changed the club bank account, if you need to make any payment by cheque or bank transfer (eg Multibanco) please confirm  details from a recent Club Newsletter or the Treasurer.  The old account is closed!

We are based in the West-Central Algarve of Portugal.

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