OUTSTANDING RESPONSE FROM ROJILLO FANS FOR FAMILIES IN NEED

Once again the club had asked their supporters if they could bring toys and food supplies to their final home match before Christmas. The response was beyond belief.

The charity the club worked with last season was unable to attend so with just two weeks until the final match before the Christmas break, the club still hadn’t confirmed a charity.

I read a post on Facebook from an old friend, Sarah English who works alongside various charities asking for toys for underprivileged children. A person responded saying that she was wasting her time and completely destroyed her post. Should we just give up? Never!!!

I now have to thank this person as this made me furious and ignited the spark I needed to get this off the ground.

I met with Sarah and Ana from the unfunded but regulated charity “Manos que no dais que esperais “(Hands that don’t give can’t expect to receive”) and after permission from the club hierarchy, it was on.

Working alongside UD Lanzarote for the past 20 years has enabled my social media and website to grow and this platform allows me to reach out to many football followers. Most of my job to promote this event was simple and was done mostly with just the use of a phone.

Ana and four other volunteers are the unsung heroes caring for 500 families on the island. We see people given praise sometimes for little effort but this formidable woman is a person that deserves the highest recognition however more importantly she does not seek that praise.

Now it was up to the UD Lanzarote supporters and boy did they respond. Ana and her colleague Miki were gobsmacked with the generosity shown by the fans. Mountains of toys, food, nappies and sanitary products flooded in. Ana whispered in my ear that “This was one of the best days of her life”.

At halftime Ana and club officials went onto the pitch and applauded the Lanzarote fans, the applause was reciprocated.

Thank you so much to all of you that contributed. The toys will be given to the children at Reyes on the 6th January (Kings Day) and whilst you won’t have the pleasure of seeing the delight of the children as they open the toys you should feel the satisfaction that they would have gone without had it not been for your generosity.

A special thanks to Monster Radio and their presenters who promoted the event and collected items during the week.

The day couldn’t have got much better but it did. Lanzarote thumped UD Tamaraceite 5-0 to leapfrog them and move into second spot, two points off the leaders with a game in hand.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t take photos of everyone that donated but here are the ones that I have.