This Thursday, May 2, 2024, Marie Goguer, Brest tobacconist from Quai 12, was awarded a diploma by the Française des Jeux (FDJ) for having participated in the “Tremplin Détaillants Solidaires” project. This project allows FDJ retailers to sponsor an associative project. If the project is selected, the association can receive aid of up to €3,000. Marie Goguer supports the Friends of the Kerlaouéna residence, in Relecq-Kerhuon, who organize activities within this Ehpad (accommodation establishment for dependent elderly people). This association has two counterparts in the Jacques-Brel and Georges-Brassens nursing homes in Guipavas. These three associations work alongside a fourth, Roud Avel, which takes care of outdoor outings for residents.
A long-standing commitment
Marie Goguer was already a patron of the Friends of the Kerlaouéna residence: “I got involved after learning that there was a risk that the nursing home would close because it was not modern enough.” She has known Raoul Merten, the president of Roud Avel, for twenty years and has been at his side since the start of the project. “It’s beautiful what he does,” she declares, so it was natural that her choice fell on the Friends of the Kerlaouéna residence when she learned of the “Tremplin Détaillants Solidaires” project.
100 associations helped per year nationally
“The Tremplin Détaillants Solidaires project allows us to highlight associations and the commitment of tobacconists,” explains Stéphane Bidamant, head of the Bretagne FDJ agency in Plougastel-Daoulas. “This project has existed for ten years, the organizations we support are always associations helping people in difficulty, such as the disabled or the elderly.” If the initiative helps 100 associations per year nationally, it supports around six to eight per year in Finistère. The last to receive a check for €3,000 is Leukémie Espoir, from the Le Fontenoy bar in Folgoët.
“We do everything to make their dreams come true”
The Friends of the Kerlaouéna residence will also receive a donation of €3,000, which will be used to create a “sensory awakening garden” for residents. “The idea is to redevelop the barn of the nursing home, to make it a space where residents can come and plant seeds of all kinds,” explains Raoul Merten. This project should see the light of day in June, it starts from an idea from the nursing home facilitators. “All the projects we implement are suggestions from the establishment teams, we do everything we can to make their dreams come true,” notes Raoul Merten. The work has already started, it still remains to make a concrete floor and install benches for the residents’ families. The place will be decorated with a fresco by Brest artist Émilie Fasquelle. The total cost is €30,000, financed by the association and by patrons in addition to the FDJ donation.
Outings organized regularly by Roud Avel
This project is the whole DNA of Roud Avel, Raoul Merten affirms that “everything we do must benefit the residents”. “This association is not old, but it has already done a lot of things,” emphasizes Stéphane Bidamant. Indeed, Roud Avel regularly organizes outings for residents. One of the next ones will take place on June 13: around 100 people from the three nursing homes will go to the Locmaria-Plouzané cabaret. Elderly people will see a show normally scheduled in the evening, but which will be performed at lunchtime especially for them.
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