Helping Children with Cancer
We were honoured and very privileged to have been invited to Her Royal Majesty The Queen’s Garden Party . This was a very special day to celebrate Ceyhun’s amazing achievement to be honoured for an BEM British Empire Medal.
Tanyel’s smile had the chance to visit the oncology children’s ward in Northern Cyprus .
We met with newly diagnosed children and their families including our children that we have had the chance to know over the years . We were proud to be able to give them support and special vouchers for the festive season.
A big thank you to Kemal Saraçoğlu charity for organising this and making sure we are aware of all their treatments. We are honoured to be able to work together to bring smiles to these children who are affected by childhood cancer .
We wish all our special children and family’s all the best and a very Happy New Year.
Ceyhun took part in the London Marathon on 3rd October 2021, and then headed to another beautiful city, Istanbul running the Marathon on 7th November 2021 . He managed to raise a massive £2,418 from donations.
Great work Cey, and thank you to everyone who supported him. It’s fantastic that together we can give hope to children suffering from Cancer.
A massive thank you to Kibris World Wide for the amazing charity ball last night, which helped to raise £3,200. The proceeds will be split between two charities one which is Tanyel’s Smile.
Also, a massive thank you to Tcca Haringey Bayram Cubuk and Erim Metto, Ibrahim Üç Firtina ,Djcelil Huseyin Erdinc and Tanyel Hassan for making this such a special night .
We’d also like to thank everyone who couldn’t make it but donated some great raffle prizes or donated to our beautiful girl’s charity.
Without all the support, we wouldn’t be able to continue to do what we do best, helping children with cancer and their families, and remembering our sweet Tanyel.
Two awards in under two weeks for this father , husband and Police Officer .
The Met Police long service and good conduct award and Her majesty the Queen New year Honour for British Empire award for policing and charity work .
We dedicate these to you our beautiful, precious Tanyel as you were our biggest and best award in this life .
In 2020 Ceyhun was picked to take part in Survivor Turkey .
He proved that there is no age does not have to limit fitness, and performed amazingly well. Even though he didn’t come first, he was a winner in our eyes. His performance was outstanding and he remained calm and measured throughout. He was very much loved in the Dominican Republic .
In taking part he showed the Turkish community that even as a grieving father he still continues to keep positive, and share the message of his precious daughter Tanyel.
We are all so proud of him .
We thank Acun ilaci and Acun media team for believing in him .
Due to the Covid pandemic we were unable to visit our children and their families in the Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus for Christmas and new year . With the help of Kemal Saracoglu we were able to keep some smiles by arranging vouchers for 65 children to purchase gifts.
Tanyel’s smile achieves another milestone having raised so far over £2,000 by running 75km Yedidalga Girne Beni orada Belle.
It was a gruelling race and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my fantastic support team. I’d like to thank you all individually for you donations, and extra special thanks goes to:
First and foremost my amazing wife Gulay for her full support from start to finish, and also, thank you to Taskin for his amazing vehicle support all the way 11 hours of slow driving making sure we were refreshed and fit at all times.
To Nadya saçlı for an amazing coaching support throughout this journey, from start to finish; a very keen dedicated young ultra runner she came all the way from Adana Turkey for this event – a true legend .
Ali Kayral and his team Run DMC Cyprus for their support from Lefkosa to Girne pace making and keeping me and Nadya motivated towards finish line.
Murat Gökçe my amazing friend another legend for joining us, keeping strong all the way and keeping his son’s memory alive. Amazing run!
Not forgetting our special thanks behind the scenes Ricki Watson for providing our lovely running tops from his company Amphibian . T
Thanks to Alex from MBE Harrow for providing our posters and design for our support teams.
Thanks to our Cyprus police support lefke Güzelyurt Lefkosa and Girne for keeping us all safe and closing roads off all done brilliant job .
Huge thanks to North Cyprus prime minister Ersin Tatar for supporting Tanyel’s smile and greeting us at the finish line .
What an amazing way to finish the year, a 75km long run in 11 hrs. Followed by the next day, a day spent putting smiles on these beautiful kids at the oncology ward. Jay even managed be Santa for the day.
After our New Year’s party with the kids, families and oncology staff we visited Basman Nike store to present the kids with presents. Sports bags each and a voucher so they can purchase their choice of Nike products . It was so nice to so many kids and their families smiling .
A Massive thanks to all staff at Nike Lefkosa Ali Basman Mehmet and sales assistance all been amazing making this happen.
Thank you to all the reporters Elif şençatal at Haberci TV for the report on our beautiful girl’s charity, Can from Kibris Tv and Kıbrıs Haber for hosting us live on her show and Kıbrıs news.
Massive thanks to Gizem özgeç for sharing our story Haberci newspaper amazing article also front page on the Christmas Day edition .Genç TV. Hüseyin Kıral for hosting us live also presenting Jay with first prize money for December’s top sports personality of Cyprus .This was donated to our charity . It’s been a crazy year with so many charity events hopefully this hard work continues into 2020.
Wishing all of our valuable supports a Happy New Year.
This year Tanyel’s smile has reached around the Globe to raise awareness of childhood cancer and raise funds to help and support children and their families during difficult times. We thank you all so very much for your continued support.
Our last event will take us back to Cyprus for this year’s toughest and most gruesome challenge, as we continue to raise as much awareness and funds as we can. The Ultra 75 km run will be held on Sunday 29th December 2019 starting at 06:00 am from Yedidalga outside Aspava restaurant with Murat Gökçe (Ada’s father) and Nadya Zuyeva by my side.
The run will continue flat some curves through citrus smelling Güzelyurt orange fields to Nicosia 55km . This is where fellow runners, my friend Ali Kayral and his team “Run DMC” will be joining us for the final 20km push: uphill through Boğaz mountains then downhill, with spectacular mountain and sea views, heading towards to finish at the Historic Kyrenia castle. If everything goes well we anticipate finishing at around 3pm local time.
If you are in Cyprus Please join at this unforgettable event and cheer us on.
Together we can all make a big difference and give so much smiles back to our children. Feel free to tune in on the day to Cyprus local radio social media and TV to follow our journey.
Together, with Tanyel’s Smile we can achieve so much. Wishing everyone health and happiness for 2020. Keep smiling ?
If you’d like to help children suffering with cancer, please use this link to our FaceBook page: http://www.justgiving.com/Ceyhun-Uzun75kmyedidalgagirne?utm_id=27
Thank you xx
Latest News – Tanyel’s Smile also made the news in Turkey.
I arrived to a very special welcome to my home town of Istanbul with TEAM TANYEL my wife Gulay and niece Feride, for the famous marathon.
It’s the only marathon in the world to be run over two continents, starting on the Asian side of the Bosphorus and finishing in Europe. It’s full of history – a race through time. More importantly, it has an unrivalled atmosphere 300 metres from the Bosporus Bridge.
Now in its 41st year, the race attracts 104,000 runners from all over the world, and I warmed up alongside runners from the US, Canada, Italy , Czechia and France, as well as the many local runners. It was a busy start, particularly with an 8, 10 and 15k event running simultaneously, although everything is well organised with bag transportation to the finish and clearly marked out start areas for each distance.
Finally, as the sun began to take the nip from the air, the Mayor of Istanbul fired the starting pistol and we were off, racing across the bridge, the minarets and domes of the city’s ancient mosques etched against the skyline ahead.
With no timed start pens, and the other races joining after 500 metres (aside from the 8k which begins 30 minutes later) , it is chaotic, with runners of different speeds all requiring navigation. And there’s a near 100 metre climb within the first 5k.
I raced my way up alongside a Istanbul local, running beneath the Valens viaduct at the top. Standing since the year 368AD, it provided water to the city in its incarnation as the Eastern Roman capital of Constantinople. In fact, the first 15k of the route provide an inspiring tour of some of the best sights of this ancient city.
Passing Dolmabache Palace, a splendid mix of European and Ottoman style built in 1843, it passes through the old harbour area of Karaköy – now an upcoming trendy neighbourhood – before crossing Galata Bridge. Wow it was absolutely buzzing! Originally serving as a link between the Imperial Palace and the merchant neighbourhood, the bridge is now popular with locals who fish the Golden Horn.
From here, the marathon route heads up along the Golden Horn for an out and back section. Already running hell for leather on the opposite side were the elite runners. As we left the historical area, we followed a dual carriageway, all the way out and back for 20 long, monotonous kilometres. It hugs the the Bosphorus Strait, with its traffic jam of trawlers waiting to be navigated to the Black Sea. By 30k, I too felt like one of those trawlers – stuck and not going anywhere.
Now and again, the call to prayer drifted through the air to remind me I was in Istanbul. That and the refreshment stops, placed every 2.5k, offering water, sponges, energy drinks, sugar cubes, apple and banana chunks were the only things that kept me going.
With little over a mile to go, the route finished with a sting in the tail, uphill, across paving slabs and cobbled stones to finish at the Hippodrome, the beating heart of the former Byzantine and Ottoman empires and once home to fierce chariot rides.
My legs and heart were working hard, but I took inspiration from the fantastic atmosphere, running through Gülhane Park, once the gardens of the Topkapi Palace, autumnal leaves orange against the sky. With crowds of supporters lining the route, I finished with a sprint, calf muscles burning, within a stone’s throw of the Sultan Ahmed, known as the Blue Mosque for its blue tiles.
As I looked around, surrounded by ancient mosques and palaces that have stood for thousands of years, the cheering supporters recalling the shouts of millions through the ages, even the dual carriageway run was forgiven. Not least because I could now boast I’d run from Asia to Europe for Tanyel’s smile, and received a huge welcome from my wife and Niece Feride our family friends cheering at the finish line.
A massive thanks go to all the donations we have received. We’re now at nearly £600 for this race alone. Special thanks to our two sponsors Helvadere and Ayshen Travel.
If you haven’t and wish to make a donation you can follow this link:
https://justgiving.com/fundraising/Ceyhun-Uzun11istanbulmarathon
Thank you, Cey xx
