It seemed like one big ACCA party. First, the children’s charity encouraged snowball throwing at the Quinta Shopping day on Saturday, as kids young (and not so young) took turns to pot the ball into the chimney pot of a beautiful Portuguese-style house model, made especially for the event by Acca supporters Alan and Linda Bentley.
A prize-packed tombola, as well as the sale of Christmas cards, designed by children in the homes ACCA supports, helped raise much-needed funds that will go towards special treatments needed by many of the youngsters.
Then, on Sunday, ACCA staged its own Christmas Market, in conjunction with the Conrad Hotel. Fifty stalls, selling a wonderful array of gifts and luxury foodstuffs, welcomed visitors to the event, with lanterns twinkling and roaring gas-flame heaters adding to the atmosphere. Tickets for the raffle were snapped up fast – prizes included a night at the hotel, dinner, brunch, a spa day for two, a meal at Casavostra, a case of wine from Wines & Co, a must-have cordless Redilamp and a fabulous Molton Brown goody bag from Dunas, while the tombola saw happy faces and a never-ending flow of goodies to take away.
Santa arrived in a vintage Merc and posed for pictures with the kiddies, music was played throughout the day, Lorraine and her helpers belted out the best of carols , and stalls selling delicious eats – from Indian delicacies and designer tasting dishes, to tiny pots of Raclette and sizzling sausages, did roaring trade. And of course, the gluhwein flowed, served in a specially created lounging area and bar in the hotel forecourt.
Inside the Conrad, the children took advantage of the special area set up for their entertainment, with a bouncy castle, popcorn and candyfloss and some of the most adventurous face painting ever.
But key to the day was the art show, organised in conjunction with ArtCatto, in which close to 100 paintings went on display and up for sale. Produced by children and young adults from ACCA-supported homes, the ‘gallery’ proved to be a winner, with dozens and dozens of pieces of work carried off by delighted new owners.
The two ACCA events, together with the sale of paintings, raised in excess of €5,000 - the best Christmas present ever for the charity, which passes 100% of all monies to its causes.
To find out more about ACCA’s work, contact Wanda at wandacrawfordspa@yahoo.com or Jackie at qjax@hotmail.co.uk.
For a PDF of the latest ACCA newsletter, contact Susi at susi@rogol-goodkind.com.
