Children in Need Foundation

Winter Ball & Presentation of a new Mini-bus

The Children in Need Foundation held their Winter Ball at the Cratos Premium Hotel in Çatalkoy on Friday 16^th November and what a superb event it was with 252 guests attending. Chris and I were unable to attend but did manage to pop in and take some photographs and everyone looked as if they were really enjoying the occasion.

One of the highlights of the evening was Mr Ersin Tatar, the Finance Minister, handing over of the keys of a brand new minibus to Mr Soner Őyken, the Headmaster of the Őzel Eğitim ve Iş Eğitim Merkez in Lefkoşa. The minibus, a 2000cc Ford 15 seater vehicle, was parked at the front of the hotel and it looked splendid, shiny and new and what a delight it will be for the children to be able to venture farther afield in the years to come. Being brand new, it is anticipated that this mini-bus will provide an essential transport service to a large number of needy children throughout its 15 – 20 year service at the Special Needs School, helping to enrich their daily lives by facilitating trips to shops to learn life skills, visit places of interest and vacation days. The Children in Need Foundation thanked all of their supporters, who together with the Near East Bank, helped contribute to the 80,000tl purchase price of this special vehicle.

Mr Tatar made a speech with some very amusing parts but his main message was about all of the good work being done by CINF and their band of helpers. He also praised highly the value and support of the expatriate community to North Cyprus and if you would like to listen to Mr Tatar’s speech and the other speeches, please click here.

Mally Torris and Laurence Floyd both made speeches thanking their committee members and all of their supporters who made it possible to help needy children and make their lives more enjoyable. Thanks were also given to Near East Bank for all their support and also to Lynne and Oya Topcu of the Hideaway Club, to whom Mally presented a plaque in recognition of their support. Laurence told me that they had raised a staggering amount of 348,000TL up to the end of last year, they have done so much for needy children and there is a lot more planned for the future. There are events already being planned for 2013 and I am sure they will be successful and increase the funds of CINF to do even more good work.

Another big highlight of the evening was of course the appearance of The Manhattans, the fantastic UK Soul & Motown Tribute Band who had previously performed at a CINF event and they were pleased to be able to come again to North Cyprus for the Winter Ball. What a superb group this is and they had no problem in getting the guests onto the dance floor all evening to dance to their wonderful music. Please click here to see and hear the magic of the great Manhattans Soul & Motown Tribute Band on YouTube.

There were 12 excellent raffle prizes which had been generously donated, including a laptop, hotel breaks, hampers and much more and it would have been well worth having a ticket with a chance of winning one of these lovely prizes.

Having attended some past events for the Special Needs School, one in particular springs to mind and that was at the Korineum Golf Club where a group of children had been brought by coach for an outing. When they were departing, Chris had boarded the coach to take some photographs and the coach drove off with him still on board. At that time we were told that funds were being raised for a new minibus for the children and this has now become a reality with the brand new minibus sitting outside the Cratos Hotel. Well done CINF, the Committee and supporters of this very worthy cause.