When We Say Community...
we mean it
Some of you may have remembered the Saturday and Sunday markets that took place in the Jardim Nuno Álvares in Largo de Santos and the Santos-O-Velho churchyard. Although these markets are no longer taking place, the non-profit organisation behind them, Santos Collective, continues its mission to support community efforts associated with social, economic and environmental areas. Community is at the heart of Mila’s, giving us so much to be grateful when we recently celebrated our 6th anniversary.
What is Santos Collective?
Santos Collective (SC) was established by Alex, who you may know from Baraza Yoga and I, who you know as the founder of Mila’s. We started in 2020 in the first year of the pandemic, when community vulnerability was highest.
Santos Collective is a private, non-profit organisation focused on developing and supporting activities that are of a general interest to the community within social, economic and environmental areas. We believe that by linking the responsibility of micro and SMEs with community developments in the city of Lisbon, companies and communities can be stronger and more capable of creating real changes in the city and society.
We are proud of the achievements SC has made over these few years.
Santos Collective in Action
* Our idea under the designation "Reclaiming Public Space” was one out of 27 shortlisted for the Future Architecture 2021 competition of the European Architecture Programme.
* We launched the Community Food Basket Project that supports the Parish Assistance of Santos-o-Velho – APSOV collection and distribution of baskets of fresh and non-perishable products that have been donated by the community. This also makes it possible for them to cook and distribute meals to the elders in the Santos-o-Velho community.
* At a time when social interaction was limited, we saw the need to create an esplanade to organise activities for the community and meet freely to combat social isolation and physical and mental health. So we decided to turn the churchyard of Santos-o-Velho into an Espaço à Larga. This made it possible to organise a number of cultural activities, inviting artists to use the esplanade as a means to encourage cultural projects and diminish this interruption due to the pandemic. We also organised bi-weekly music evenings in the churchyard, to support the Community Food Basket Project, by encouraging attendees to donate food in lieu of a ticket entry donation.
* In order to extend and increase the outdoor terrace dining space in the community, we brought together local businesses, merchants and others to create a ‘Dinner in Proximity’.
* But probably people are more familiar with SC because of the Saturday Farmer’s Market Project that started in 2020 to support fruit and vegetable producers and other micro food product creators of local establishments that had been closed due to the pandemic. The Farmer’s Market ran throughout 2021 and was upgraded from the summer of 2021 to include a Sunday Artisan Lifestyle Market.
* To round off 2022, we organised Estrela Food Feast, a weekend street festival to support and raise money for Afghan musician refugees who are members of the Afghanistan’s National Institute of Music (ANIM). The three day event saw close to a thousand people come through the gates of Jardim Nuno Álvares to taste signature dishes of a number of local restaurants accompanied by live music and a cinema evening.
* Currently, we continue to support the Community Food Basket Project on a monthly basis in collaboration with APSOV. Once a month a group of volunteers helps out with the collection and organisation of food baskets that are distributed to the most vulnerable persons and families of the Santos/Estrela area.
Interested in lending a hand to the Santos community?
We are always looking for food donations and hygiene products (soap, sanitary pads, toothpaste, etc) for the Community Food Basket Project. Please feel free to drop donations at Mila’s.
Additionally, if you are interested in supporting APSOV, they are always looking for helping hands especially to offer activities for the community, for example providing music in their space that is only a few steps away from Mila’s. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, please reach out to them via their website and check out their Instagram profile!