Rotary Club Estoi Palace International (RCEPI) has launched its first annual Virtual Cat Show on 15^th September.  
Do you have the purrfect pussy cat, the cutest kitten, the cat with the loveliest eyes, most magnificent whiskers? Then enter your feline friend into this fun virtual show. 

Animal rescue centre, TheTiny Shelter in Albufeira got it’s name because of the size of the shelter. Initially dogs were rescued and looked after close to an old ruin in central Albufeira. However, when the land was sold, a kind benefactor allowed Isabel Searle the use of her land, and a small shelter was built in a few weeks.

Join the Madrugada team - the Algarve charity currently have two part-time job vacancies they urgently need to fill, a position as Administration Assistant at the Madrugada Centre in Luz, and a Retail Supervisor role at the Madrugada Home Store in Lagos.

During the pandemic, local charity Helping Hands in The Algarve has continued to support a number of good causes even though their usual means of income, such as quiz nights and meals, have been impossible.

Horse riding lessons at Pinetrees Riding Centre for young adults with cerebral palsy, sponsored by Helping Hands in The Algarve, have resumed so that the young people involved can continue to benefit from these activities.

Over the course of the last few months, the Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome (BACF), the national foodbank charity, has seen the call on its service increase dramatically in the Algarve, from 16,000 requests for assistance to more than 24,000. Understandably this has caused a huge strain on their resources, made worse by the fact that at their first food collection in May, they were unable to have volunteers in the supermarkets asking for food donations from shoppers, which created a massive shortfall in their supplies.

Without help to pay for the sterilization of pets owned by needy residents, more animals will be abandoned. The cat colony situation is already catastrophic and more and more stray dogs are appearing on the streets.

APAA and other associations do as much as possible, but we all have limited funds and the government should be doing much more to alleviate the problem.

On June 30th, 2020 an interactive paediatric simulator was delivered to the Paediatric department of Faro Hospital (CHUA- Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve).  Rotary Club Estoi Palace International was delighted to be a contributor to this excellent initiative.  The cost of the simulator was almost 25.000 and this was raised by contributions from Faro and Moncarapacho Councils, the Rotary Clubs of Albufeira, Almancil, Estoi, Faro, Lagoa, Lagos, Olhao and Tavira plus individual rotarian donators.

An Algarve west coast community association has stepped up its support of local families suffering hardships during the pandemic.

The organisation which early in April began distributing boxes of fruit and vegetables, has this week donated €500 to the area’s Sociedade S.Vicente de Paulo, Aljezur, to reinforce that support.