When Ali Hunter and John Deans of the Tartan Army Children's Charity (TACC) came over las September to meet us and learn more about Emaus, we could never have imagined the extraordinary events that were about to unfold. After seeing the children's homes first hand and spending time with Montserrat Fitur, the President of Emaus, the TACC donated a whopping £15000 towards a sports programme for the children.

 
After viewing a piece of rough ground at the back of the Altea home, it was agreed that the money was to be spent on a sports field. This seemed to be an almost impossible task as the land has no access apart from a path in front of the home so all the work had to be done by hand.

This herculean task was undertaken by Mario and his team (with a little help from Tony & Montse, see photos) who manhandled literally hundreds of wheelbarrow loads of sand through a narrow path and onto the land at the same time as being harangued daily by the children “Is it finished yet?”. Slowly but surely the weeds disappeared under the steadily growing sand base. The goalposts were painted one end in Barcelona colours and the other in Madrid colours at the request of the children and seats were found for spectators. When the grass was eventually laid out the whole pitch seemed to take shape and the painting of the white lines finished it to perfection.

It's difficult to work out who gets the most benefit from projects like these, is it the children who get to play on a brand new pitch at their home, to the envy of their classmates, or could it be people like ourselves who are privileged to be part of these projects and are able to see them through from start to finish. One thing is for sure, all those who contributed to the TACC fundraising should feel especially proud of themselves to have achieved this wonderful legacy and to know that children engaged in sports rarely have time to think about their other problems.