First Lady of Cyprus attends charity event in London

“Radiomarathonios is a great celebration of love and compassion and we should bear in mind that people with disabilities need us constantly beside them.” the First Lady of Cyprus and President of the Institute of Radio-Marathon Andri Anastasiadi said on Saturday night in London.

Sending her personal message on the occasion of this year's campaign of Radiomarathonios, Mrs Anastasiadi noted that: “What each of us does for ourselves, we take it with us. What we do for others, however, remains. So, we must be generous in our contributions as they will remain and they will establish us as the right people in our society.” Mrs Anastasiadi, who was speaking at the gala of the Diaspora Radiomarathonios, said that the tough economic conditions should not distract us from the responsibility and duty to actively support our fellow humans who are suffering and especially children with special needs. “My appeal to everyone, in Cyprus and in London as well as in all of the Diaspora, is to demonstrate the human face of our society, to show that problems reinforce our determination to walk alongside the children who look to us for support and love.”

She warmly commended the work being done within the Diaspora Radiomarathonios, with the most important result being the creation and efficient operation of the Organisation’s centre and she congratulated the President of the Administrative Committee Mr Antonis Gerolemou and the members of the organisation.

She spoke about the general dynamism of the community and rich activity with special reference to the role of Archbishop of Thyatira and Great Britain Gregorios, who was absent on a mission of the Patriarchate to Crete. In his address on behalf of the Archbishop, Bishop of Trophy Athanasius expressed his thanks and sent the greetings of the Church for this pious work.

The President of the Diaspora Radiomarathonios Anthony Gerolemou expressed his satisfaction with the operation of the centre. He thanked the Director Alison Tontz and members of the Committee and said that this year's campaign was made more difficult because of the absence of Laiki Bank, but he expressed the belief that the gap would be compensated by the eager response of the community.

The event, held at the Marriot Hotel in central London, was attended by the High Commissioner Mr George Christofides, the Greek Ambassador Mr Konstantinos Bikas, the President of the World Federation of Overseas Cypriots Mr Andreas Papaefripidis and other VIPs.