"Members of St. Luke's congregation fill 50 boxes of groceries following the Harvest Festival service. The boxes are destined for disadvantaged Portuguese families in the area and all the food was donated by members of the congregation."

A very big thank you to everyone who supported this years Backpack Drive for children returning to school. The calls of help for backpack donations from organisations across the Algarve were answered with record support of the campaign, now in its 7th year.

The ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’, held last Friday, is a major fund raiser across the UK for Macmillan nurses involving thousands of people making donations to the charity. This year a number of organisations held events here on the same day and two of them made donations to Madrugada to help it support people affected by life limiting illness.

Reluctantly the Madrugada management team has decided to close its Portimão charity shop. Research before its opening in March 2011 indicated that the location right in the centre of town on Rua Direita near the theatre was a good position. Since then, however, things have radically changed.

With its partners at Rotary International, members of the Rotary Club Estoi Palace International have just made a huge difference to hungry families across the Algarve.

We are very pleased to announce our new Membership packages for the year! Our 2018 membership packages offer an array of advantages including:

- Discounts in the golf shop and restaurant;
- Complimentary use of the short game area and driving range reductions;
- A new attractive renewal rate for Bronze members;
- Expanded incentives for the member-bring-a-member program;
- Gold early discounts (before October 31st);
- Complimentary Portuguese Golf Federation fee for Gold members.

Last week in Óbidos, Portugal, VILA VITA Parc was awarded with the distinction of Best Resort Hotel in Portugal at the Publituris Portugal Travel Awards 2017 Gala. These awards, also known as the “Oscars of Tourism”, are an initiative of the national paper Publituris, aiming to award the best in tourism in Portugal.

This award takes on an even more special meaning by being given in the year when VILA VITA Parc Resort & Spa celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

A decorative item, a 100% Portuguese brand, a distinctive ambient light, a classic candle and a modern lamp, these are the candles of the Candle In brand, now available at Mar d’Estórias.

The candles are customized as a replica of the Portuguese tiles that are part of the decoration in the Bistro / Café of Mar d'Estórias, so memories of the experience you’ve had in this space are always with you.