Silves Rotary Club Celebrates Presidential Handover at Riverside Retreat
Thirty people braved the rain and dusty, winding roads to attend the wonderful Presidential handover of the Silves Rotary Club, held at the breathtaking Figs on the Funcho nature retreat the event unfolded as a tranquil oasis nestled right beside the sweeping curves of the Arade River.
The afternoon commenced with a poignant, traditional Flag Ceremony, anchoring the event in a sense of shared purpose and global community. Guests then looked back with pride on a remarkable year of achievements, before tucking into a vibrant, seasonal vegetarian feast.
As the heavens opened up, a sea of colourful umbrellas bloomed across the scattered outdoor tables. Far from dampening the mood, the rain heightened the cozy, shared camaraderie. The gathering brought together visiting Rotarians, active club members and Governor’s Assistant Dr. José Manuel Sosa. Together, they offered glowing praise for outgoing President Pam Winn. Under Pam’s exceptional leadership and tireless dedication, Silves has officially blossomed into the largest and most thriving Rotary club in the Algarve. Her past year was defined by impactful initiatives, including vital school and environmental projects, alongside targeted financial aid for local community requests.
Taking the reins with effortless aplomb, incoming President Judy Falcao who also meticulously organized the afternoon’s stunning setup—unveiled an exciting roadmap for the year ahead. Judy expressed her vision to harness the rich, diverse talents of the club’s international membership, aiming to elevate both fellowship activities and vital community fundraising to new heights.
Guests laughed and toasted with fine wine, enjoying a comforting menu of fresh mint and pea soup, burnt aubergine vegetarian chilli, “marry me” mushrooms & beans, accompanied by two salads, fluffy couscous and rice. The culinary highlight concluded with a spectacularly creamy lemon mousse. As the day drew to a close, the rain gave way to the soaring, soulful notes of a live vocal performance by Adriana Neto Goncalves. Her beautiful melodies echoed over the quiet river, leaving guests inspired, connected and ready for a bright new chapter of charitable service in the Algarve.
Dancing in the Aisles
On Saturday 13 June the Silves Rotary Club Charity concert was held at the charming Teatro Mascarenhas Gregório in Silves. 2000€ was raised towards Silves Rotary Club’s Education Projects. The audience was enthralled by music from the well-known Brazilian quartet lead by Túka. They performed Latin American classics, Reggae and interpretations of some contemporary pop pieces to the delight of the audience with some dancing in the aisles. Thanks to the generosity of the audience Silves Rotary club can continue its work with local schools through 2026 and into 2027.
These include funding 14 students from Agrupamento Escolas de SilvesSul to join 300+ students at a Model United Nations conference at Cheadle Hulme School in Greater Manchester. This will be their 3rd year. The two teams of six will be representing Portugal and Mozambique. Two students who were included in previous teams have been selected as Guest Committee Chairs for the Youth and Environmental committees.
Preparations are already underway for the clubs next large scale fundraising activity where members will walk from Monchique to Cabo Sao Vincente to raise money to help fund therapies for young children with language and learning difficulties. The walk is due in October and is a follow up to the successful Valença do Minho to Santiago de Compostela walk in the autumn of 2022.
Pam Winn, the RC Silves President would like on behalf of all members to thank the sponsors of our event with special thanks to Tuka and his Trio, Camera Municipal de Silves for allowing us to use the wonderful Teatro, Pedro and Joao the staff of the Teatro and last but not least Quinta Dos Sentidos for providing us with us with some excellent wines for our audience.
Garden Party Raises 1500€ for Community Projects.
On Sunday 17 May another successful fundraising Garden Party. Party goers were treated to a South African style Braai (BBQ) along with other delicious savoury and salad dishes all prepared by members of the club. The deserts were also in abundance along with local wines and those from the Alentejo and Douro regions.
Music was provided by the ever-popular Jackson River. Jackson as usual entertained with every kind of music from opera to rock. Members danced the afternoon away with line dancing proving very popular. A fun time was had by all and a total of 1500€ was raised in aid the RC Silves community programmes.
The President Pam Winn and event organiser Judy Falção thanked everybody who helped to make the day a success. They said “We could not support projects in the Silves community without the contributions at events from our Portuguese and International community”
RC Silves final event before the summer will be a music performance held at Teatro Mascarenhas Gregório in Silves on 13 June with well-known Brazilian artist, Touka Moura performing. Monies raised at this event will help fund the club’s education programmes. Information will be available soon.
Cookery Competition Finals 2026
Eight judges will gather at Algoz School this April through to June to taste the food created by 5 groups of students. The food will be paired with local wines. They will to be judged on the food and the service. The students greet the judges and lead them to their table and present their menus.
For the finals this year, the Rotary judges are joined by Adelia and Wilson from the Rainha Restaurant near to Silves. They will cast their professional eye over the menus. The first 2 finals produced some lovely food.
This competition is going to be difficult to judge.
Walking through Scenic Paderne
A new walk for some of the RC Members and friends. This walk was organised by Ulrike to take in the lovely views and spring flowers around Paderne.
It was just over 6 kms and the group really enjoyed the walk and the friendship. Participants donate 5€ which helps to fund RC Silves Community Projects.
Garden Party, Nora Sunday 17 May 12:30
This is the 5th edition of the Garden Party. An afternoon of fun, fellowship and fund raising. All in aid of RC Silves many community projects. Jackson River will provide the music. Food from the South African style BBQ and many more cakes and treats. To book please contact secretary.rotarysilves@gmail.com
Last years event:-
Silves Treasure Hunt
Rotarians from RC Silves for fun and fellowship enjoyed each other’s company whilst learning a bit more about Silves Historical Sites on a Saturday in April. Even those who lived in Silves learned about new points of interest. Of course, they visited the castle, cathedral, misericordia church and roman bridge. But they also visited municipal museum and had their picture taken with the Moor princess, Chapel of the Martyrs, pillory, Casa da culture, the palace of Viscounts of Lagoa sadly in bad condition these days.
After the exertion of the walk they adjourned to a local restaurant for of course, chicken and chips. Each member received a Kinder egg as their treasure. Which were eagerly consumed.
Further fellowship events are in planning for visit to a fish farm and a Gin Tasting.
Model United Nations Averts Crisis
The pupils of Agrupamento Escolas de SilvesSul who attended Model United Nations Conference (MUN) in Manchester in 2024 and 2025 arranged a similar event for the members of Silves Rotary Club on the visit of the District Governor Jorge Lucas Coelho. Teams representing Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, UK, Netherlands and the USA made up from members, guests and supported by the President of the local Junta de Freguesia de Armação de Pêra were presented with a crisis based on the Iberian power outage last year. The crisis was launched via a short movie produced by the pupils. Members were forced to respond as their designated countries might. Presenting resolutions, taking questions from the floor and voting on outcomes. Pupils acted as advisers on protocols and helped to write resolutions.
President Pam Winn said “How proud she was of the pupils as they had provided members with an unforgettable experience, and an understanding of how the Model United Nations works.”
Just a few members comments: –
“A thoroughly enjoyable and engaging event led by a group of students demonstrating leadership, teamwork, Communication skills, including giving presentations, effective listening problem solving and decision making. The students put a significant amount of work into their preparations showing their organisational skills all this was delivered in a professional manner. The confidence and enthusiasm shown by the young students was inspiring and infectious.”
“The entire event was in English which is not the first language of the students. It was clear to all present how the event boosted the students’ confidence.”
“We all came away from the MUN event bristling with ideas about preparing for a blackout perhaps not however the suggestion about carrier pigeons & bicycle dynamos!!!”
We look forward to sending two teams next year!
Visit of the District 1960 Governor Jorge Lucas Coelho
RC Silves members and guests joined the Governor Jorge Lucas Coelho in fellowship at D’Mestres Restaurant in Pêra where he addressed the themes of rotary. He also joined President Pam Winn in welcoming two new members Shalini Mathur and Alok Dhar.
The Governor also joins the president to present Service Awards to Alan Winn and David Butler Cole. Both are officers of the club that have worked hard over several years to enable RC Silves work in the community, especially in providing educational experiences for pupils in local schools.
The Governor provided the club with a little gift to symbolise Rotary’s work to end polio. Appropriate as RC Silves donated 1000€ this year to the End Polio Now campaign. RC Silves had a little gift for the governor too. A painting from local artist and member David Trubshaw and a book of poems and paintings from local children.
President remarked “I am proud to be president of this Portuguese club with a proud 33-year heritage. I have a team of members from diverse backgrounds and cultures who have decided to make their home here in the Algarve and work to make a difference in our community and internationally. We have many areas where we need to make a difference and we all know more work needs to be done and partnerships to be built. With some successful fund raising and completed service projects behinds us we are now looking forward to the rest of the year with more fun, fellowship and fundraising.”
Christmas Carols by Candlelight
On 1st December RC Silves Members and friends gathered at the home of David Trubshaw and Jackie Offen to sing Carol´s by Candlelight. The money raised from the event will go to Community Charities. The carols were led by Adriana Neto Gonçalves who is studying Opera at the Loulé Conservatoire. RC Silves is helping Adriana with her studies. But before the festivities began Pam Winn President of RC Silves welcomed a new member to the club, Ulrike Klein. Pam presented her with her rotary pin. Pam also presented Past President Rainer Kroth with his Past Presidents pin.
After a few warming up exercises from Adriana. We tried a few carols clasping our song sheets tightly. Singing carols is thirsty work so mulled wine and soft drinks topped off with some Christmas Fayre was next on the agenda. A wonderful array of Christmas delicacies was provided by Jackie Offen. Thank you Jackie.
Towards the end of the evening Adriana put our efforts to shame and treated us to two lovely traditional Christmas songs.
Just getting us all in the mood for the Christmas season. The event raised 750€
Rotary Clube de Silves 