A Welcome Break

A lovely break at Accupolco

On the 12th and 13th September Tanyelssmile and Kemal saracoglu were  delighted to fund a two day, one night stay for children with on-going treatment, their siblings and parents at the Acapulco Resort in North Cyprus.

We were honored to work in partnership with Kemal Saraçoğlu again and would like to extend a massive thank you to you for organizing this event in our absence. We are always so grateful for your support and keeping us up to date on the progress of our children.

We’d also like to offer a massive thank you to the families and children involved…you are the ones that make it worth all the dedication and fundraising.  It was such a privileged to spend a few days together

Talking Round Cyprus Podcast – The Cycling Copper One

Cycling Copper

Roger Bara and Sara Palmer talk all things North Cyprus with people who live, work, visit and love the place. Their hopie to open peoples’ eyes to this forgotten corner of Cyprus.

This episode features an interview with Tanyel’s father Ceyhun Uzun discussing his life before and after the loss of his daughte.

The Cycling Copper One – There can be few things worse in life than losing a child. Gulay and Jay Uzun lost their daughter Tanyel to cancer. From a place of darkness comes light as they now help other youngsters in the North Cyprus who have cancer. Jay tells us how he copes and about his cycle from London to North Cyprus.

The episode can be found here.

In-room entertainment

Gulay looking at a newly installed TV

Through Tanyel’s Smile we were delighted to purchase nine Samsung smart TV’s to be fitted in rooms where children spend most of their time whilst being treated on the children’s cancer oncology unit in lefkosa delvlet hastanesi (Nicosia main hospital).

The massive donation of £2,500 from Heartbeat North Cyprus cancer charity trust, sponsoring our London to Cyprus bike ride in October,  helped significantly towards the purchase of these televisions.

They will bring loads of pleasure to children who will enjoy the entertainment during the long hours of their treatment.

Met Police Third Sector Awards

Cey and Ryan with the Met Police

In February, Cey and Ryan were honoured to be part of the Third Sector Awards at New Scotland Yard organised by the Turkish police Association.  Here they had the chance to share their experiences with the Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and AC Matt Jukes  of the charity cycle ride from London to Cyprus, organised for Tanyel’s Smile.

A huge thanks to everyone involved for all the support .

Christmas with children and their families

Cypriot children at Christmas

On 17th December we had the pleasure of meeting with the children and their families, who have the misfortune of living with cancer in Northern Cyprus. It was a pleasure to join them for the festival celebrations, together with Kemal Saracoglu who organized this event. 

A massive thank you to Hidden Gardens for the fabulous afternoon, and the delicious meal for the families and children that were able to join us . 

It was an amazing day for us all and a great pleasure to spend with these parents and share their journeys, and also having the chance to meet all the new children. 

As always we wanted to give our children something special to spend this festive season.

We presented the 17 children who were able to attend, vouchers from Lcwkiki for new outfits and Erülku supermarket for their families. And the other 33 vouchers were sent to the oncology unit where our children can pick them up when they are able to.

We are so thankful that you all continue to support with your donations and fundraising. It is only with your help that we can bring smiles to these 50 children and young adults.

Tanyel loved Christmas and we love keeping her beautiful smile shining bright .

We’ve done it! London to Cyprus in 28 Days

We’re delighted to announce that we successfully completed the London to Cyprus cycle ride 23rd September to 21st October.

This has been a monumental effort by the team, and we want to say a big thank you to all our supporters and let everyone know how grateful we are.

We have been overwhelmed with the number of people who have supported us and shared our journey: donating, cheering, phoning, messaging, and just being there for us – friends and family who travelled to meet us, and the many people we chatted to and who listened to our amazing journey along the way.

Of course, everything we do is in the memory of Tanyel, the special young lady who continues to give us so much energy to help children with cancer even though she is no longer here with us.  We will forever remember and keep your beautiful smile alive. 

We would love to thank everyone individually but there are simply too many. Special thanks go to:

Our President of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar for joining us and greeting us.

Ahmet Durmush Bexley mayor – who provided massive support throughout our journey, joined us at the start line

The Metropolitan Police for supporting our cyclists from Scotland Yard to our beautiful Tanyel’s resting place.

For all the Police who escorted us in Greece, Turkiye and Northern Cyprus.

Express signs @ Ipswich Mark Nicolas for our marketing 

Julie and Lis for allowing us to start at The Pavilion florist and for all the tea’s and coffees.

Walnut cafe Sidcup for the essential energy bars 

Ozzie at London catering services for all the energy drinks including water and protein bars – enough for 4 weeks journey.

DFDS crossing team on our ferry ride from UK to France.

The amazing staff (Laurine, Paul and Antoine) at decathlon store in Mâcon in France for repairing the bikes after a tyre blow. 

Green Pedal cycle club, for arranging and selling Tanyel’s Smile T-Shirts, collecting donations (55,750 Turkish lira which was donated to Kemal Saraçoğlu charity on our behalf for helping children with cancer at the oncology ward in Northern Cyprus) and finding sponsors in Cyprus (Aksa, BEM ,Crego Ltd,SHIPYARD) and final for organising an amazing event.

Thank you also to Velospeed cycling Tours and all the other cycling groups that joined us. 

Lords palace hotel manager/staff for supporting us with drinks and allowing us to use their premises.

Acapulco resort Hotel for accommodation throughout our stay and using their facilities.

Türk Ajansı Kıbrıs (TAK) Anadolu ajansı T.vine magazine for constantly following and reporting on our journey.

To all the newspapers for their reports and TV  shows.

Yedidalga folklor derneği for greeting us with flowers at the finish.

To everyone who came to greet us along the way and see us through to the finish.

Three very special people Cumhur, Havva & Katriye who picked up the bits and pieces to create a great finish

Gazi Primary School Famagusta – thank you for inviting us to speak about childhood cancer.

Girne American university – thank you for inviting us and getting to meet students and tell them our journey .

A massive thank you to Heartbeat North Cyprus for your incredibly kind £2,500 donation to get us up to our target and for your special support.

Ismail and Muhammer for support in our İstanbul stay.

Kibris worldwide for their ongoing updates and donations.

Metropolitan Police Turkish association and for Eren’s updates on social media.

Apologies if we have missed anyone but please know the kindness means a lot to us.

Ceyhun and I (Tanyel’s parents) would like to say a very special thank you to Rachel and Ryan for taking unpaid leave and leaving their family for over a month to give us all the support from start to finish.

Rachel for her journey planning throughout Europe to ensure our cyclist were taking the right route, driving our support vehicle (and putting up with me 24/7) and calculating daily mileage to achieve what we set out to do.

Ryan for the professional cyclist he is and pushing through every hurdle making sure both he and Cey finished what they started. 

And all the extras along the way .

We were privileged to meet so many incredible people throughout Europe (London, UK, France, Italy, Greece, Turkiye and Cyprus) who have made this an extra special event and one that will stay with us for life.

This is a life-long challenge for us, Tanyel’s mum and dad, Ceyhun, as we continue to find the strength to bring awareness to childhood cancer and raise funds…thank you …thank you…thank you 

If you would like to donate please lick on the link below.

http://www.justgiving.com/ceyhun-uzun11london2cyprus