GGAS Treasurer Bihula Vaz handing over GBP 225 to Margaretta Livingstone, parish secretary of St Boniface Church, as an early Easter gift to the three priests this year.
LONDON
Golden Goa Association, Southampton (GGAS), the flagship voluntary organisation of the Goan community based in the maritime city of Southampton, has been in the forefront of raising funds not just for worthy charitable institutions in Goa but also for causes in Southampton.
The association has provided assistance both in cash and kind to Valentina’s Little Heaven Children’s Home (Colva), Daddy’s Home and Special school (Gogol-Margao), Nitya Seva Niketan Children’s Home (Quepem) and Lar De Santa Terezinha Charitable Girls’ Orphanage and Shelter Home for Women (Pajifond-Margao).
The GGAS has also been instrumental in collecting funds for local community organisations, including the St Boniface Church in Shirley, a town in Southampton, and where the Goan association organises its regular meetings and events. The St Boniface Parish comes under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth UK.
The GGAS and St Boniface Catholic Church have had a reciprocal relationship since the inception of the former in 2010. Whenever the Core Leadership Team of the GGAS has decided to raise funds for the local church, the latter has reciprocated by giving its hall free of charge for GGAS community events.
Over the years, GGAS has raised funds for the church's Building and Maintenance fund. In recent years, the GGAS managing committee has resolved to raise some money as a gift for the priests at St Boniface in appreciation of the work they do for the parish and community.
In 2023, the association raised £ 300 as a special Easter gift to Parish Priest Fr Tom Kleinschmidt and Assistant Parish Priest Fr Godwin Kambai and Fr Jufel Baldado.
RJ Roque Vaz, the founder member of GGAS, remarks, “The Goan community in Southampton has been a part of the beautiful port city of Southampton for more than 50 years now. Many Goan families, who migrated from Africa to this part of the world in the 60s and 70s, made Southampton their home.”
“Since recent times, more families emigrated to UK from Goa via the Portuguese passport and work permit routes and chose Southampton to settle down in the South of England.” “Thousands of Goans working in the cruise and container ship industry also use Southampton as their port of call and do their last-minute shopping before flying home for their holidays. Our new President Sebastian Savio D'Costa, along with his team, has been very proactive in enhancing the community spirit and in furthering the objectives of GGAS.”
GGAS founder members Dina Desouza and Bihula Vaz hand over an amount of GBP 300 as Easter gift to Fr Tom Kleinschmidt, parish priest of St Boniface Church, in 2023.
GGAS President Sebastian D'Costa said that at their recent 55th community event, the 7th Goa Carnival Nite, they raised money for the three priests at St Boniface Church as an early-Easter gift.
“We managed to collect £ 225 pounds and a cheque for this amount was handed over to Margaretta Livingstone (Parish Secretary) by GGAS Treasurer Bihula Vaz. It gives us immense happiness that we are able to accumulate funds not just for charitable causes in Goa but also for our local organizations during community events organised by our association.”
Added GGAS Vice President Maria Assumpta Borges, “Our next community event will be the feast celebration of São João on June 22, and we will be raising financial assistance for the Building and Maintenance Fund of St Boniface Church. This celebration will be the first of its kind in Southampton by the vibrant Goan community in Southampton.”
GGAS founder member and current Treasurer Bihula Vaz emphasised the need to inculcate in the minds and hearts of the younger generation the good habit of not just promoting and maintaining Goan culture, heritage, Konkani language and the world-famous Goan hospitality.
“We should also foster in them the noble act of helping deserving charitable organisations internationally as well as locally. The GGAS has given us the right platform to achieve our community goals and objectives since the last 15 years in Southampton.”
