The guests were sparkling at this year’s Tomorrow Glitter Ball. Following a two-year break due to COVID, the tickets sold out in less than a week. One hundred and eighty lively partygoers attended the event which is held by Tomorrow‘s charity TACT to raise money for local causes.
On arriving at the Tivoli in Lagos guests were welcomed with a drink to the glitter-themed event and the room was positively effervescent with many of the ladies dazzling in sparkly frocks. The room was made even more dazzling by Glitter Bar Algarve.
As everyone was seated at their tables for a delicious three-course meal, they were moved by a touching plea from Salomé whose little girl Alice has the rare condition Rhett’s Syndrome. Then Cadela Carlota’s treasurer, Konstanze Alex, spoke to the guests about their work to ensure the dogs and cats in their shelter do not become homeless this year, when the land where they live, is sold.
The emotional stories encouraged guests to dig into their pockets and a record number of raffle tickets were sold contributing 2500€ to the causes. This was truly heart-warming as the most ever raised before was 1200€. With ticket sales, this made 5000€.
Tomorrow also received two generous private donations for each cause. Once he heard about Alice’s story, José Afonso who runs the BP garages in Lagos, Penina and Portimão reached out to BP. They jointly agreed to donate 1500€ each for treatments for Alice.
Following another successful John Aldridge Charity Golf Classic in September, John kindly offered to donate 2000€ towards the Cadela Carlota land appeal.
Thank you
A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the evening a great success:
The Tivoli Hotel and their amazing staff.
Sebastian and Marina from Emocean Restaurant kindly donated the welcome drinks.
Roger, Pedro & Paulo for the welcome drinks music.
Lara and her team from Glitter Bar Algarve for adding that extra sparkle to the evening.
Samantha Afonso and Vicki Harding for their help in organising and during the event.
Sarah Neves and Paul O’Byrne who helped sell raffle tickets.
Fatima Vargas, the photographer who captured the magic moments displayed on this page.
All the local businesses who donated raffle prizes including, Days of Adventure, Delhi Darbar, Marina Bar, Faby Salon, Algarve Accommodation Agency, Laws Property, The Green Room, Katja Kaller, Quay Lagos Restaurant, Portofino Restaurant, Boavista Golf, Espiche Golf, Palmares Golf, Classy Orchid, Nadia Amores Nail Artist, Eva Cahill & John Pierce, NUR Aesthetics, Fly 365, Tivoli Hotel Lagos, Linen Etc, Alex Vliege from The Lemon Lodge and Boogie Bounce.
Finally, a huge thank you to The Protons who got everyone dancing the night away.
The biggest thank you goes to everyone who attended and kindly donated so much money to these very worthy causes.
Alice’s Fight
Alice is only five years old but bravely battles Rett Syndrome. A rare genetic disorder it affects brain development, resulting in severe mental and physical disability. It is estimated to affect about 1 in 12,000 girls born yearly and is rarely seen in boys.
Her mother, Salomé dos Santos Soares, who is also a mother to Guilherme, aged 12, admits that it is not an easy thing for her to do to ask for help. But, as her daughter is now in stage three of this condition, she is determined that both herself and Alice must ‘fight’ to stop her from regressing to stage four. One of the cruellest aspects of this condition is the uncertainty of symptoms development. Alice could stop walking at any time.
Alice now has physiotherapy three times a week, but the government only subsidises one session. She is constantly frustrated by the lack of state-funded treatments available to help her daughter. Salomé pays privately for two therapy sessions which are 35€ each and now wishes to give her daughter private hydrotherapy lessons. Alice is on the waiting list for private speech therapy, which would enable her to integrate better into school. Salomé would also love to start her on some more intensive treatments to improve her neurofunctional skills. “These are the therapies that are essential for Alice to have some form of quality of life.”
Alice will never be able to use the toilet and the nappies she will wear as she grows up are costly. Alice only receives 63€ a month from the government, and Salomé only receives 100€ a month for being her carer, so she is struggling to meet these costs on her own. She works as a beauty therapist and lives with her parents in Budens.
“I wish to bring awareness to people regarding Rett’s Syndrome. I also wish to give Alice as much help as I can to allow her the quality of life that she deserves. I personally find it difficult to ask for help, but this is for Alice and sometimes you must swallow your pride. My only hope is that we can keep fighting until there is a cure.”
www.gofundme.com/f/pela-alice-contra-o-rett
Give a Dog a Home
Cadela Carlota is a non-profit organisation for the protection of animals in the Lagos area of the Algarve. They have been caring for abandoned dogs and cats since 2008. Their ultimate goal is to find a caring human and a forever home for every animal in their care, but for some, the shelter will be their forever home.
The charity’s treasurer, Konstanze Alex, explains, “No matter how long an animal stays with us, our mission is to guarantee their well-being, health, safety and quality of life without fail or interruption. We can only succeed if we ‘Own the Land’ they live on. The current owner wishes to sell the land and our family has nowhere else to go.”
They have raised 26,000€ of the needed 85,000€ so far from various channels (GoFundMe is just one of them). The charity made a small down payment which gave them one year to raise the money, but they only have nine months remaining.
Their next target is to get to 44,000€ to qualify for the gap money to meet their goal to buy the land. They have received two gap promises, totalling 15,000€ from NANDI and the APAA. So if they raise 70,000€, the organisations will guarantee the final 15,000€.
The land is a 1.8 ha plot (approx. 4.4 acres or 18000 sq m) east of Odiáxere along CM1051 between N-125 and A22. Konstanze says, “ The Tomorrow ball was such a positive experience and a great boost for us. All the volunteers were calling me the next day to see how it went. A magical part of the evening was that I connected with Alice’s Mum, Salomé. She is going to bring Alice to the shelter for a Christmas outing to meet the dogs and have a picnic along with the kids from the children’s home CASLAS. It was a beautiful connection.”
Please donate to the dedicated Own the Land fund.
Cadela Carlota & Companhia – Associação de Proteção de Animais Lagos
IBAN PT50 003601799910005324002 BIC (Montepio Geral)
www.gofundme.com/f/own-the-land-o-nosso-terreno
To view and download all photos please click on this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/6a6rszzojn45xxjn2ovnq/h?dl=0&rlkey=btizlpxdig7zx5ajchbdv675
Photos © Fátima Vargas
