Charity ‘season’ starts
OVER 200 guests attended a North Cyprus Cancer Charity Trust (NCCCT) coffee morning at Çatalköy’s Malpas Hotel which raised just over 7,500TL for new hospital equipment.
Surprise guests on Tuesday were a new team of head doctors at Girne’s Akçiçek Hospital who bought tickets for the event to meet the charity volunteers who have sourced so much vital equipment.
Charity head Wendy Anderson said: “It was wonderful that the new Akçiçek team came to support us.
“They are the first doctors to visit us and it’s nice to be appreciated!”
Head doctor Ceyhun Birinci and his new team of deputy and radiologist Dr Suha Halil Akpınar and hospital administrator Ayşe Perçinkardeşler got a taste of charity cheer as the “50-50” lucky dip was won by a Kyrenia Society librarian who promptly donated her winning half-share of the 935TL in the pot back to the charity.
A cheque for 1,000TL was also presented by organisers of NCCCT bingo nights at The Lodge in Çatalköy, while proceeds from sales of items from the charity’s two shops, Heartbeat and The Hut, also brought in 2,445TL.
Supporter Stephanie Gardiner spoke for many as she searched a second-hand book stall for cookery books, telling Cyprus Today: “I am here because it’s a good cause.”
Internal specialist Dr Birinci browsed over 20 stalls and five tables of NCCCT charity goods to snap up a glass ship in a bottle before posing with his new find and Ms Perçinkardeşler.
He said: “The volunteer effort is really impressive and it has boosted our morale tremendously.
“Everyone at the hospital, the ministry and in the wider community is aware that equipment sourced by the NCCCThas saved or improved many lives.”