Let me introduce myself. My name is Christine Baillie and I am the seventh President of HELP Murcia Mar Menor. I am a native of Leeds in Yorkshire and made the move to Spain in late 2001 with my late husband.
I have been a member of HELP since 2014 and was elected president at the Charity`s AGM in March 2017 having been the secretary for two years a post that at present I will continue to fill.
Now at the beginning of 2019 having completed almost two years as President I can report that the charity continues to do well and in 2018 we were able to fulfil our commitments and make donations of up to €3000 to four good causes in the Murcia region as chosen by our members.
Benefitting last year were AFEMAR, helping children and adolescents in San Pedro.
The children’s Cancer charity AFACMUR in the Murcia region also received our help.
With our help the Red Cross in San Pedro were able to purchase the industrial fridge they needed to store donated fresh food which feeds the people in that area.
We also donated ten much needed wheel chairs to Los Arcos University Hospital.
All this was only possible with the hard work of our members and the donations given by the kind people of this area.
The social side of the charity which is very important has included an Easter Bonnet contest, a golf contest, a Fashion Show and a Dinner dance with live music from the Reef band who donated their services for free. Also the monthly lunches that all members and friends are welcome to attend have proved to be very popular.
My two years of service are nearly over and I have to say it has been challenging at times but having had such a wonderful experience during my time as President I have decided to stand for re-election so that I can continue to take HELP Mar Menor forward and improve the Charity´s ability to be of help to those in need, ex-pats, local, or visitors of any nationality.