Fundraising for BBF

THE British Benevolent Fund of Madrid (BBF) is one of the oldest Englishspeaking charities in Spain with records dating back to at least 1919. Jenny Kaka, explains how she became involved with the Fund and also how she became the events and fundraising organiser for the BBF. The aim of the BBF is to grant timely financial assistance to British nationals and dependents facing extreme financial hardship in Spain.

We think of life in Spain as being all sun, sand and sangria, but for some people the dream can turn into a nightmare, leaving them with no resources to stay and without the wherewithal to return to the UK.

Covid presented many people with this challenge, being unable to work and earn a living and having spent all their savings, without any option to return to the UK.

Jenny also talks about how the British population in Spain is growing older with many who retired out here, now perhaps widowed, and their pensions now not meeting the cost either of funeral expenses or repatriation.

Much of their work is done in conjunction with the British Consulates and the Embassy, which is where many will present with their problems, but the Consular services have little or no means to help out financially. This is where the BBF steps in.

For others, homeless ­ ness, mental health problems, or simply having hit a ‘bump in the road’ is where the BBF can sometimes assist. The voluntary Committee meets on a monthly basis to consider applications for help. None of the members of the committee receive remuneration for their work. For more information contact casesupport@britishben eveolentfund.org or check out their Facebook page. https://youtu.be/8O7Hltrt mZ0

The full interview with Jenny can he heard on You Tube.

ITV and, more recently, Sky Sports. Does the public really want to see this kind of self­centred person on their screens? Cannot equally qualified but decent, charismatic alternatives be found to take their place? ITV and Sky Sports seem to have a problem with this. Maybe Clarkson, who prides himself on a controversial image, should better direct his venomous dreams to somebody like Putin ­ assuming he disapproves of the Russian’s actions. I’m sure he would

It seems, however, that many people harbour the same hatred of somebody whose decisions and opinions they disagree with (or whom they don’t relate to) as of one who inflicts mental or physical hurt on other beings, sometimes on a massive scale.

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