Val Williams was on a mission, and when it comes to collecting for a charitable cause dear to her heart, like so many others who work tirelessly here on the Costa Blanca, she does not rest until her objective is met. In this case it was a set of basketball hoops and nets for ALPE the centre for the education of the mentally handicapped. She had asked the staff at the centre what they would like her to get for them and they came up with the suggestion. Val has been a big supporter of ALPE in the past, it is a cause close to her heart and readers might remember an advert in the CoastRider a little while ago for a dinghy that she had for sale, the funds of which were to go towards this collection. An ex-Rascal, Val is no stranger to gently but persistently persuading people to provide raffle prizes and spend their money in a good cause. People were as generous as ever in buying tickets and of particular note was a donation of 100 euros from Paul Cox of SellPropertyInSpain.com who willingly gave the money when Val explained what she was collecting for. With the money collected in, Val was in a position to order the basket ball hoops, nets and their stands from a local sports supplier. However there was a minor delay when it was realised that the size of the nets and stands meant they could not simply be loaded into a car and taken round to the ALPE centre on Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas.
Delivery had to be arranged and an official presentation and handover ceremony organised, all of which took some time. However everything was set up and in order for one day last week. The nets had been delivered and best of all there were children around to meet with Val and Paul Cox and take part in a photograph in front of the nets. The nets are inside the hall at the moment while a final site is found for them outside.
Val told us there are still some unclaimed prizes from the raffle she ran. The numbers and prizes are as follows. Anyone holding a wining ticket can collect their prize from Hoggies in San Luis or get more information by ringing 966 785 476.
Blue 369 – Boat, Green 338 – Fishing Rod, Yellow 601 – Fishing Rod, Blue 296 -, Cava and an Ice Bucket, Yellow 606 - Cava and an Ice bucket, Blue 351 – Candles and an Ice Bucket, Green 306 - Cava and an Ice Bucket