On Monday 30th January we welcomed Deirdre D’Aray from the Oxford Leon Association to our Rotary lunch.
The talk by Deirdre followed on from the very successful fund raising event at Blavatnik College on the 19th January. The Charity works in partnership with Oxford City Council and Oxford has been twinned with Leon in Nicaragua since 1986.
Deirdre’s very informative talk initially pointed out the similarities between the two cities. Leon is situated 50 miles from the capital, is a university city, and also has a covered market!
Funds raised go to medical projects to improve drinking water (water storage), equipment for primary school (books etc), first aid training, and supporting victims of domestic violence. Apart from the recent dinner, there is an annual sponsored swim at Hinksey Pool, salsa evenings, stalls at community events, and the selling of Fairtrade coffee.
The year 2016 marked 30 years of Oxford’s link with Leon.