Walter Finch
CHRISTMAS in Gibraltar is a time for cheer but it’s also a time for charity, and to remember those less fortunate.
Fortunately, the Rock’s small population is blessed with a wealth of kind-hearted and generous souls who dedicate themselves to helping those in need.
The government lists a staggering 352 registered charities in Gibraltar on its website – around one for every 100 residents.
From providing housing to battling cancer to supporting vulnerable children – and far beyond this – the Olive Press has spoken to a few of them about the good work they do.
Tackling the housing crisis
ACTION For Housing describe themselves as a pressure group rather than a charity ‘as we don’t handle money’, founder Henry Pinna, 79, tells the Olive Press.
But the group, set up way back in 1981, still plays an outsized role in society on the Rock.
“In those days, it wasn’t unusual for several generations to live under one roof – grandparents, parents and daughters and their offsprings. The overcrowding was acute.”
Have things gotten better in the intervening period?
Pinna credits the introduction of ‘so-called low cost housing [which] has improved prospects for younger people.’
“And the construction of flats for pensioners has helped, because they’ve downsized to smaller homes to let people on the waiting list move into their bigger apartments.”
But there still remains the ‘backlog’, the seemingly eternal enemy of AFH that always arises from the ashes and can never be truly slain.
“We’re mainly concerned about the elderly. Some have been waiting for 13 years. Some of them die while waiting for decent accommodation.”
AFH is currently trying to help around 150 people on its backlog list to find better housing.
They run drop-in surgeries at the John Mackintosh Hall every Monday from 6pm to 7.30pm – ‘or later if more people turn up.’
“But we don’t see much prospect for them if the government doesn’t build the social housing they promised in their manifesto last year.”
Henry estimates that they need to build a further 400 flats if they are to break the backlog.
So what keeps him coming back and plugging away, 44 years after he was first moved to set up the group?
“It’s the sense of fulfilment I get when we’re able to resolve a family’s problem for them. I feel very fulfilled,” the retired ombudsman reflected.
“But of course, they keep on coming. You sort out two, and you get three. And get three, you get four. So it’s never ending.”
Support for cancer sufferers and their families
HEARING the dreaded news that one has developed cancer is not perhaps the terrible death sentence it is often perceived to be.
At the Cancer Relief Gibraltar centre, Senior Nurse Vanessa Cross told the Olive Press the majority of their patients they see have a curative – or potentially curative – form of the disease.
And there’s every chance they’ll beat it and resume their normal lives.
Vanessa, who followed in her mother’s footsteps to become a nurse after listening to her come home from her shift and tell her father about her day, has been with Cancer Relief for five years.
She’s part of a team that supports around 600 individuals with cancer and their families or carers who live or work in Gibraltar (including people who live in Spain).
To these people are offered a range of vital services, including nursing support and counselling, and various holistic therapies such as massages and yoga, and much more.
But it doesn’t come cheap. Each year Cancer Relief Gibraltar has to raise £500,000 in order to continue functioning – and each year it’s touch and go.
On top of a government grant, they rely on a small army of kind and generous donors, including foundations, corporate events and individual fundraising.
It allows Vanessa and her team to ‘make a difference, and help people to help themselves.’
“It really resonates with me, to help people get back an element of control that they might feel they’ve lost when they’ve been diagnosed with a chronic disease,” she said.
“It’s very inspiring, and we are in a very privileged position to have people share so much of their personal lives with us.
“But I try to keep my emotions out of it – when you’re talking to someone, you always have to remember this is about them, not about me.
“This is the best place I’ve ever worked, absolutely.”
Gifts from a dream
IT all started with a dream. A literal dream, in which angels were decorating a Christmas tree and giving gifts to children.
This was what inspired single-mum Nicole Stein, 49, to set up Christmas Tree Angel, a new initiative to bring the community together and provide presents for underprivileged children – and their struggling mums.
Participants attach an angel created by children to their tree, and on that angel will be a label with the name of the child, their age, and what they want for Christmas.
People can then see the label and get the child the present, to be dropped off at Nicole’s nursery Bright Start Montessori Nursery on Governor Street.
“It could be a Transformers toy, or a tracksuit, or even a Playstation 5,” Nicole tells the Olive Press.
“The idea isn’t just that they get a present that otherwise they might not get at all, but that they get a present they truly want.
“And in the process, they know someone cares about them.”
Nicole knows as well as any the hardship that parents – especially mothers – can feel at Christmas.
“I’ve had a few hard knocks in my life. There was one Christmas where I found myself unable to buy presents for my two children.
“I ended up rummaging through the unwanted gifts box outside St Theresa Church. I never told my children where the presents came from until they were much older.
“They had never realised the hardship I was going through.”
The initiative is a new one and Nicole is looking for more businesses and individuals to take part.
“It’s so important that Gibraltar keeps the community spirit at Christmas time and that we come together as one people to support those who need it.”
