CDCR dos CTT Portugal - National Games of CTT, Portimao, October 2021

I was kindly invited to attend the 31st National Games of the Portuguese Posts, organised by our fellow Eurojumelages member, CDCR dos CTT in Portimao, Portugal between 2nd nd 5th October. These games are held every two years and there are competitions in various disciplines, including, Footsal, Handball, Bowling, Running, Fishing, Tennis, Table-Tennis, Dats, Billiards, Chess, Draughts. Ther was also a nightly entertainment programme of folk dancing and singing where the participants are also employees and pensioners of Portugal Post, and their families.

It was a very well organised event and there were circa 800 persons participating. CDCR dos CTT had the support of Portugal Post and also of the Municipality of Portimao who made available several sport pavilions and other facilities where the Games were held. All participants were accommodated in an excellent hotel (Pestana Alvor) and this enabled us to meet several participants in a relaxed manner as well as watching them compete and perform.

It was also encouraging to see that the Chairman and other members of the Board of CTT were present at the opening and closing of the games, as well as the Mayor of Portimao. At the closing and presentation ceremony I had the honour of making a short address where among other things I spoke about the ideals of Eurojumelages and also about the need to seek collaboration between the people of Europe.

My host, Mr. Rui Cabaco (President of CDCR dos CTT) explained that his club had over 12,000 members who were all employees of CTT. They paid a small monthly membership fee but the club was granted a subsidy in the form of an annual budget by the Board of Directors of CTT. They were able to organise an annual calendar of events. Mr. Cabaco expressed his intention to invite members of Eurojumelages who would like to participate in events organised by CTT. Moreover, during 2022 he would also be organising a wine-tasting event in the Douro Valley and Porto specifically for Eurojumelages members. He informed me that such an event had already been organised some years ago and several EJ members from Spain had participated and had been very enthusiastic about it.

Following the end of the National Games, I also met the President and General Secretary of Portugal Clube Telecom which organises sport and leisure activities for Telecom employees. This club also has a very strong membership base and a full calendar of events. It is their intention to seek membership within Eurojumelages in the near future.

All in ll I am happy to inform you that CDCR dos CTT will be a strong and active member of Eurojumelages and members are invited to get to know this organisation for mutual benefit and strong friendships.

Yours Peter Backes

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Dear friends of the Eurojumelages,

Following the devastating flood disaster in the western part of Germany, we have received a great deal of sympathy from the Eurojumelages. We would like to thank you very much for this; we appreciate the solidarity of our friends in this crisis situation very much.

The floods have claimed many human lives, completely destroyed the infrastructure in some regions and caused immense damage to property. Many people have lost their belongings.

Despite the large-scale relief measures, a return to normality is not yet foreseeable; in some regions it will take years to repair the damage.

Due to the extent of this catastrophe, many of us have relatives or friends who have suffered damage; the house of one of our Executive Committee members of the Bonn Section was also severely damaged by the flood waves.

However, in this crisis situation we are also experiencing a great wave of solidarity and willingness to help the people affected. This noticeable cohesion in society allows us to look to the future with confidence.

Kind regards

Dear friends of the Eurojumelages,

The Corona pandemic has been going on for more than a year now, and personal contacts and joint activities within the Eurojumelages have not been possible since then.

We will therefore publish reports on the pandemic from the individual member countries on the Eurojumelages homepage.

Our authors report how they themselves and the people around them are experiencing the Corona situation, what restrictions they are experiencing, but also about hope, hope for vaccination ...

Read the eighth report, from our French twinning friends !...

So be sure to check out the interesting, compassionate and close-up reports...

Yours Peter Backes

Dear friends of the Eurojumelages,

The Corona pandemic has been going on for a year now.

Eurojumelages Board of Directors of March 29th, 2021