Photos from Bishop Robert Innes's visit in December 2025
On the last Sunday of each month at 11.30am, children are invited to the Salão (hall behind Luz church - Nossa Senhora da Luz, Av. Dos Pescadores 10L4, 8600-130, Luz) where they will have fun playing games, making arts and crafts, learning songs, and reading Bible stories. You can register for Sunday Children's Club using this link Registration Form.
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Vale Silves Community Centre - the Bishop's Appeal
The work of Vale Silves Community CentreAbout Vale Silves Community Centre
The Centre was founded in 1990 by Dra Maria Armanda Silva, originally as a Parents’ Association seeking to improve the local primary school. That small initiative grew into a wider community project addressing the needs of families in the district. Over the years, through EU grants, donated building materials, and significant personal sacrifice—including Dra Armanda taking out a mortgage on her own home—the Centre has become a fully operational, independent, non‑political, not-for-profit organisation serving the parish of Boliqueime, in the Algarve. Our Long‑standing Partnership St Vincent’s Chaplaincy Algarve has cooperated closely with the Centre for many years. Our partnership includes supporting the elderly outreach programme, providing annual Christmas gift bags for all elderly users and their carers, assisting with fundraising, and maintaining a regular pastoral presence. This long and trusted relationship means we have had the privilege of witnessing first-hand, the commitment, integrity, and compassion with which Dra Armanda and her team serve the most vulnerable in our community. What They Do The Centre provides essential support to vulnerable families, children, and the elderly in the region: • Elderly Home‑Care Programme – 50 elderly people receive personalised daily care, including hygiene assistance, meals, house cleaning, and regular home visits from a team of 20 carers. Many are bedbound and entirely dependent on this service. • Food Support – A large food bank operates three times a week, providing vital supplies to families living with significant hardship. • Children’s Services – Childcare for working parents, cooked meals for school children, and access to recreational and developmental activities. • Community Outreach – Distribution of recycled clothing and furniture, laundry services, exercise classes, and case‑by‑case practical support when urgent needs arise. Why This Appeal Matters Despite doing extraordinary work with whole families, from the youngest to the oldest, the Centre’s finances are fragile. The Centre can offer home‑care support for the elderly by charging only a small fee for the service. That fee is covered partly through government allowances and partly by the service users themselves. However, because many of them live on extremely low state pensions, they are often left with no more than €60 to cover all their remaining needs, including food and medication. The care they receive from the Centre is invaluable — without it, they would never be able to afford any form of private home care. At the same time, the small contributions they make do not come close to covering the real cost of providing the service. This means the Centre must rely heavily on donations in order to continue offering this essential support to some of the most vulnerable people in the parish. Bishop Robert described their work as inspiring, and there is no doubt that additional support received from the Lent Appeal would make a significant impact. Use of Lent Appeal Funds Contributions from the Lent Appeal would directly help to: • Sustain the elderly home‑care programme • Ensure meals for children and continued food bank provision • Strengthen outreach to isolated and housebound elderly people • Provide flexibility to respond to urgent and unforeseen needs |