Aug 07 - Evacuation Celebration At Waterport Terraces Day Centre

The Care Agency’s Waterport Terraces Day Centre for the elderly celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Evacuation this week.

The Day Centre hosted an exhibition of pictures relating to the Evacuation: the same exhibition that was presented at the John Mackintosh Hall earlier in the year complied by the Gibraltar Archives department. The Exhibition consists of historical photographs, footage, newspaper cuttings and even music from Madeira and Jamaica that the evacuees were familiar with during the war period.

The Exhibition was comprised of photographic material in various albums, which were circulated among groups of users, and in a digital format as a slide show on a large screen. This provided an additional opportunity for many elderly people who were unable to attend the original Exhibition to see the material that had been on display.

To mark the special event the morning commenced with a performance by Mount Opera, who treated everyone to well-known musical pieces and favourites of the Evacuation period. In addition, there was also a sing along with some tunes written by the service users themselves to provide an element of fun interaction.

Day Centre coordinator Gilda Fa said this is one of the many events they organise to stimulate social interaction of clients, noting that the Evacuation was an exciting, interesting theme, relevant to their time and meaningful to their lives. Mrs Fa said: “We have had a high turnout of users attending. They have been able to share stories and exchange personal experiences and recollections of the events that they went through. They have been looking forward to the Exhibition and were really pleased with the event. As a result of the Exhibition we have established a working relationship with the Archives Department and the Day Centre will be organising other similar events with them in the future.”

Minister for Social Services, Samantha Sacramento, said she was delighted that more elderly people who had missed the original Exhibition were able to see it.

She adds: “The Evacuation Exhibition is a fascinating collection of historical data and memorabilia from an important event in Gibraltar’s history. It is good that the generation who experienced the trauma and tribulations of war can now, with a degree of detachment, look back, revisit the period and exchange impressions of a momentous time of their lives. It was clearly a very emotional day for many, but there was also much enjoyment as everyone recollected and shared memories as a group. Reminiscence work with elderly people is an important element at the Centre, and it was clear that everyone loved sharing stores, and even memorabilia that some still had with the rest of the group, staff and the team from the Archives Department. I am grateful to all staff who organised the event and to Mount Opera to starting the day in such a lively way.” 

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