Isolation Challenge for Cath in the UK and trying to help others

In response to the article we published with entertainer Andy Reay click here on the subject of what do you do during Self Isolation, we have started to receive messages from many happy people as you will see.

We have another difficult case of Cath Hayes who is stuck in the UK and is desperate to know when she can come back to the TRNC and is trying to help others do the same.

For those readers who would also like to share their experiences please email  kyreniacommentator@cyprusscene.com and we will try to publish them on our website and in our weekly online e-newspaper. Let’s try to make the world happy again by sharing good news.

Readers Mail….
From Cath Hayes

When I promised a friend in the UK I would fly over to help her recover from major surgery for lung cancer, never did I believe I would find myself in the situation I am now. At the time the Coronavirus had not even begun.

The date arrived for her surgery and I booked my flight for 10th March thinking I would be in the UK maybe 2 weeks. This would give her time to get over the initial period where she was not able to do anything for herself and although the virus was creeping up there was no way I could change my mind and let her down.

A few days into my stay the virus blew up big style and I very quickly realised I needed to book a flight home. Luckily my friend was making a quick recovery and encouraged me to “just get home where you belong”. I immediately booked my flight from Heathrow to Ercan for the 17th March. However this was not to be. TRNC started closing borders and Turkish Airlines cancelled their flights.

I began to feel very isolated (no pun intended) thinking I must be the only one stuck in the UK wanting desperately to be home. Social media then kicked in and I quickly realised that there were many posts on FB groups of others in the same situation as me. Some had returned to the UK to visit sick relatives, attend funerals etc so like me we’re all going through stressful periods in our lives.

It was then that I decided to set my own FB group up to see how many there were and to give us a place to support each other whilst we waited to be able to return home. Very quickly others joined. I started to contact officials in organisations to see if any assistance could be offered and started to collect data on these members so, if an opportunity arose, that we may be able to get a flight, the information was in one place and did not need collecting quickly.

To date I have over 50 (and the numbers rise daily as people learn of the group) people who wish to return to their homes in TRNC. Most have residency, some are in the over 60 group who will be obtaining residency on their return, some are citizens so there is a mixture.

We all share information as it becomes available on the situation of flights etc and it is good to know I am not the only one. We share details of how TRNC are coping and the measures being put in place to keep the number of cases as low as possible. This is proving very successful as the number remains low.

As the group became known on FB, people currently in TRNC who wanted to get home to the UK started to join and so I started gathering their details too and posting details of any flights I learned of returning to the UK. Luckily for some, flights were arranged from the RoC and with the excellent organisation in TRNC some were able to travel home.

The situation in the UK is escalating, as it is worldwide, and I as well as my peers in the group struggle along staying with friends, family etc and for their hospitality we all are grateful but it is not home. Starting the group has given me something to focus on during a difficult, frustrating period and I hope that soon we will be able to return to where we have made our home. I have “met” lots of new people and who knows we may all meet up for a party in TRNC when things get back to normal.

For those people who are wanting to return from the UK to the TRNC or go from the TRNC to the UK please come to my Facebook page “TRNC Residents trying to get home” click here and register your details as directed.