MEMBERS of the British Community Charitable Funds (BCCF) have chosen Grupo de Apoio e Desafio à Sida (GADS) to be the recipient charity that will benefit from the profits of this year’s Fun and Games Day at St. Julian’s School on Saturday, June 18.
GADS, operating out of a tiny ex-fisherman’s cottage in the suburbs of Cascais and totally reliant on help from Cascais Câmara, the Social Security and donations, helps around 180 individuals infected by HIV/Aids on a daily basis.
From the drop-in people, to home visits, to supervising the taking of prescribed drugs and a meals-on-wheels service, nothing is too much trouble for the staff working at the centre.
Logan Ritchie, a Scottish-born voluntary director of GADS, explained to The Resident, on our visit to the centre, that on donated land from Cascais Câmara, a project is in hand to build a modern centre with donated money that can better accommodate the number of infected individuals that go to GADS for help.
Monies raised from the Fun and Games Day will be used to equip one of the many rooms in the new centre.
Logan explained the social stigma connected with HIV/Aids. Many people’s first thought is “why should we give money to drug addicts?” But, he commented that there is also a high number of innocent people involved, such as babies of infected mothers, partners who contract the disease from their loved ones and, in the past, the problem surrounding transfusions of infected blood.
After seeing the work carried out by the GADS team, The Resident urges everyone to support the Fun and Games Day. Watch this space for further information about the event.
