L.I.V.E. (Los Internacionales Viven en España) is a Spanish-registered charity based in the Axarquía. The association was formed three years ago to raise money for Spanish organisations which operate in the Malaga province. L.I.V.E. is the brain-child of Brian and Carol Marsh, who live near Vélez-Málaga. At present most of the funds are donated to La Ciudad de los Niños in Malaga city; the centre has approximately 55 residents and helps another 150 children, who attend the day centre, whose ages range from four to eighteen.

What made you decide to start L.I.V.E.?

We had worked with charities in the UK before relocating to Spain and when we moved out here we decided that we wanted to put something back into the community where we were living. Spain doesn’t seem to have the same concepts about charity as in the UK as, in the past, the majority of benevolent associations were run and funded by the Catholic Church. We felt that there were already quite a lot of charities assisting animals and we wanted to help humans. We heard about La Ciudad de los Niños and decided to visit; once you’ve been you really feel you need to do something. They obviously receive support from the state but this covers the basics and we wanted to be able to make the place more like a home. At first Brother Juan and his team were a bit cautious but once they realised it wasn’t a one-off donation and that we were serious about supporting the institution they have welcomed what we are doing. We have had to build up a relation with them but now we feel part of the family.

How do you raise money?

We would like to make it clear that all our fund-raising is very transparent and we are always more than happy to show people round the centre and show them were their donations go. The majority of money is received from local residents who participate in the many events we organise throughout the year. There are also tins and drop-off points for bric-a-brac, clothes, presents etc. at businesses in the Axarquía area. We have two branches, one in the Axarquía and the other in Faro de Calaburras in Mijas Costa, and both groups have an elected committee who are in charge of the organisation of events and the supervision of monies.

How can people help?

There a lots of ways to help - they can donate money; come along to one of our events; leave goods to be sold at our drop-off points, donate presents for the children’s Christmas party or help with delivering and collecting things. We are currently preparing for our annual Christmas party. We take the residents of Ciudad de los Niños to a very special lunch in a bar or a restaurant that volunteer their services. As well as the fantastic meal, there is also a visit from Father Christmas and everyone receives something, we also provide gifts for the young people, who visit the day centre, which the home takes back and distributes. This year we need people to help with the presents; it always seems easier for people to buy for the younger ones but we also have a lot of teenagers who also look forward to this moment. We aim to give a gift of approximately 25 euros to each person and therefore we would like everyone to leave the items unwrapped or a least with a label so that we can give the right articles to the right age group. People need to know that for many of the children this will be the only thing that are given this Christmas.

What other projects do you have planned?

Once the Christmas party is over, we will continue helping the centre. Our next projects are to buy a projection system for the recreation room and to help with the construction of a swimming pool. They don’t have a television at the moment as the last one was broken in a fight. If we buy a new television it will only get damaged again so we would really like to be able to install a roof-projector system as it is more efficient and is more difficult to break! When the Malaga by-pass was widened, the orphanage lost its swimming pool, due to compulsory purchase, and we hope to be able to raise 5,000 euros to start building a new one. It is very important to reiterate that the Spanish authorities support the Ciudad de los Niños and pay for the food and keep; what we are trying to do is make life there a little better and implement some creature comforts.

What response have you received from the local community?

Very good. People are slowly finding out about us and we know that there were a lot of people in a similar situation to ourselves; they wanted to do something of a altruistic nature but they just didn’t know how to go about it. We are a small charity which is growing and we hope that the number of volunteers will keep increasing. We do need all the help we can get and there are so many different ways that people can take part. We are more than happy to give after-dinner talks to any association or club to explain our work and show how the local community can get involved.