Ocean Village raises £3,700 for Ukrainian charities

Ocean Village marked its first event since 2019 earlier this month with an Easter fundraiser for Ukrainian charities which saw the marina bustling with music, art, Ukrainian culture, superheroes, great food and smiling faces.

Chocolate was the order of the day as 168 excited children joined in the Easter Egg Hunts around the Ocean Village Marina led by none other than Alice from Alice in Wonderland and the Easter Bunny.

Alexa Donovan and Tony Gaul from the Mindspace Project encouraged the children to run and play with their “Fitness with a difference” games, competing in egg-and-spoon races and other fun activities.

The Musicians Association of Gibraltar put on a show by Café Fresco with a line-up of local bands and the Gibraltar Cosplay Group wowed the public dressed as Batman, Superman, Elsa, Ursula, and a Stormtrooper from Star Wars.

The Ukrainian community led by Nadiya Miller produced beautiful arts and crafts and delicious Ukrainian treats which were sold on the day.

An impressive £2,700 was raised at the event itself and Ocean Village added an additional £1,000.

The total of £3,700 will be shared between two charities: https://www.paracrew.org and https://palianytsia.com.ua

Ocean Village has also set up a credit card payment donation option in the following venues: Pizza Express, Wagamama, Café Fresco and Las Iguanas.

Diners can ask their server to add a donation to the Ukraine appeal to their bill until the end of this month.

Emilia Hazell-Smith, who heads marketing and events for Ocean Village, said: “We were delighted to hold the Ukraine Easter Fundraiser at Ocean Village.”

“It was an extremely successful day celebrating Ukrainian culture whilst raising much-needed funds for such an important cause.”

“We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the local community for supporting our event and in particular, our sponsors and volunteers including Ocean Village Express, Passano Opticians, Party Pop Gibraltar, Highflyer Gibraltar, 7th Heaven, Smart Wear, Lewis Stagnetto, Musicians Association of Gibraltar, Alexa and Tony, Moniques Art Face Painting, Glitter Fairy Paula Hutton, all volunteers from Help Ukraine Gibraltar, Jan-Kjetil Lykkeliten, Nadiya Miller, Siobhan Catherine, Karen Burnett and Olga from Sweet Cake Catering.”