Coronavirus: British Forces donate food to families in need

The British base of Akrotiri has launched a food aid programme to help struggling families during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Representatives of the police’s Community Unit donated 35 boxes of food to community leaders of the surrounding villages of Akrotiri, Assomatos, Trachoni, Erimi, Lofou, Sotira and Avdemou.

The boxes, worth over €700 each, consist of donations from local businesses and individual police officers and contain large amounts of dried foods and tinned goods, including pasta, cereals, beans, potatoes and flour.

The packages also contain meat, fish and seasonal Easter goods, like tsoureki, biscuits and some chocolate.

“With the increasing uncertainty and worry that many families and people may be feeling, the SBA Police is doing anything it can to help the communities it serves,” a statement released by the British Forces in Cyprus on Tuesday said.

Deputy Divisional Commander for the Akrotiri Division Superintendent Constandinos Petrou also said he feels strongly about the initiative.

“We have daily communications with our community leaders and we carry out what are called community impact assessments. During this assessment, we were able to identify 45 families within the SBAs that were in need of our help, so we wanted to be able to provide them with some essentials during this very challenging period,” he said.

“Our communities are extremely important to us and if we are able to help those in need, then we will of course, do what we can.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.