The tipping point for the greater good?

DEDICATED volunteers who have worked tirelessly to help hospitals in their hour of need are now calling on the North Cyprus community to return the favour.

The 30-year-old North Cyprus Cancer Charity Trust has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for state hospital medical equipment but was left last month to collect sodden stock from its Heartbeat shop for laundering at home, and is now appealing for help to get the premises back into usable condition.

Despite plaudits from a series of health ministers and media coverage of their contributions, their work remains largely invisible to the wider community that benefits from it.

And no-one knows better how hard the unsung labours of volunteer associations can be than those who simply roll up their sleeves and get down to it; the many who have run themselves ragged to be “the change”.

Public health is now back in the spotlight with the new coalition government vowing to introduce long-awaited legislation for a cancer register.

There is a fresh determination in the air and a new generation of politicians who understand that issues of health, education, traffic and work safety and the environment must now be properly addressed and who also know the value of volunteerism and community spirit.

The isolation of the TRNC has taken a heavy toll on society, with many opting to just look out for number one.

But could we now have reached a tipping point for the greater good?

For there is a lot more to living well and harmoniously here in North Cyprus than consumerism. What use are private hospitals to those who cannot afford them and what price our own health if the health of society as a whole is failing due to poverty and poor living and working conditions?

Let’s hope the NCCCT will be helped to continue their sterling work — and that our community in North Cyprus, wherever they are from, continue to be “the change”.