Since 2001, the Better Living in Portugal Exhibition, or BLiP Expo, has brought together businesses from across the Algarve, throughout Portugal and sometimes even from outside the country, all hoping to enhance the lives of the foreign resident community.
Several years ago, we looked at what ‘Better Living’ means and how we might develop that to a broader message. In 2019, we started to develop that idea into one of ‘Making Life Better’ and that enabled us to include organisations whose goals are to help those who are in need of support.
One of the features of the afpop website, the organisers of BLiP Expo, is the Community area, where charities and fundraisers can showcase their work free of charge, and it made sense to begin with those organisations and invite them to be part of BLiP.
In 2022, we increased the space available for charity organisations, by creating an area for them to showcase the excellent work that they do for others.
We are asked quite often in the afpop office if we know of any organisation that “does this or that” in the community and BLiP Expo is an opportunity for people to find out more, with no obligation. It seemed logical for us to take the idea that we created in the Community area of the afpop website and make it a physical thing, bringing faces and names to the words on the page.
This year, we have developed that idea and instead of the Community area being a stand-alone space, the charities are now grouped in Community Islands and located throughout the Arena. It seems more fitting for us to have those people who do so much for the community to be included within the BLiP community and not set off to one side.
Including these excellent organisations who do so much for others not only enables us to show our appreciation of their work and the efforts that they make, it also gives them an opportunity to show visitors what they do and who they support. They might hope for donations to their efforts, but, equally important, is the opportunity for others to perhaps be inspired to offer their support.
Whilst BLiP is still, and will remain, a business expo, serving the needs of commerce by bringing businesses and potential customers from across the region together all under one roof, the organisers believe it is a logical step to expand on what it means to have a better life.
The idea that visitors can make their own life better through services that can be discovered at the event, whilst also discovering the excellent work that is being done in the community and perhaps even helping to support their work, is fundamental now to the ethos of BLiP Expo.
Come along to BLiP Expo in Portimão Arena on October 14 and 15 and discover more about what they do. Hearing their stories is rewarding. Whether you give donations or not and whether you feel inspired to work with them or not, it’s important that people know of their work. We think you’ll find it uplifting.
See you at BLiP Expo 2023!
afpop is very grateful for the support provided by the event sponsors Medal Seguros, the Regional Tourist Board Turismo de Portugal Algarve, media partners Open Media/The Portugal Resident and Algarve Daily News, and the facilities provided by the Câmara Municipal de Portimão. We also thank Eventos Creativos for their assistance in organising BLiP EXPO 2023.
By BLiP Team
