Children's cancer group raises €200,000 and a garage

A garage was donated by a generous couple at the fourth Puttinu Cares 60-hour football marathon held between April 25 and 27 at the Marsa Sports Complex, in addition to €200,000 (Lm85,860) raised in cash donations.

The organisation's latest project is the acquisition of three apartments within walking distance of the Royal Marsden Hospital in the UK and payment for these apartments has already started.

The amount that needs to be raised has now gone down to €931,749 (Lm400,000) from the original €1,164,686 (Lm500,000).

The organising committee of the Puttinu Cares Children's Cancer Support Group said it hoped the committee of the coming Istrina will seriously consider its plea for financial help.

"It should be remembered that last year out of the €1,164,686 (Lm500,000) collected, only €9,317 (Lm4,000) approximately were promised to our support group. One might also say that a lot of the clips used every year for Istrina feature our children," it said.

"It is also important for the public to realise that the activity was organised by the Puttinu Cares Children's Cancer Support Group which is an independent group and is not part of the HSBC Cares For Children Fund.

"HSBC support us with a grant of €4,658.75 (Lm2,000) a year and allow us to use the name of the character created by Philip Farrugia Randon, Puttinu," the committee added.

The organising committee said these apartments are considered to be the property of all Maltese citizens to help those families whose children are unfortunately suffering from cancer and need to go abroad for part or all of their treatment.

"At least they will not need to worry about where they will be staying and can focus better on the needs of their sick child."