BASSETERRE ST. KITTS (September 22, 2009) -- The St. Kitts and Nevis Association in Leeds, England, has used the 26th anniversary of the nation’s independence to remember breast cancer sufferers and survivors in the federation by making a presentation of £1,000 towards the Breast Cancer Fund.
At an Independence Day church service held at the Roscoe Methodist Church, Francis Street, Leeds on Sunday September 20, the Chair Emeritus of the St. Kitts and Nevis Association, Rev Gloria Hanley, presented the cheque to His Excellency Dr James Williams, St. Kitts and Nevis High Commissioner to the UK.
Over 200 hundred people attended the Independence Day service which lasted for one and a half hours. In attendance, apart from the High Commissioner, were the Lord Lieutenant, Mr. Ashley Rawlins, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, clergies and many nationals from Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester.
Rev Hanley explained the due to the worldwide recession they have not been able to raise funds as fast as they would have wished. The amount of £1,000 which had been raised at a fundraising that had been held in June would be banked at the Scotia Bank in Basseterre, where the fund has an account.
“I am planning another fund raising event in October,” said Rev Hanley. “My next cheque of £1000.00 will be sent to the Pink Lily Fund in Nevis. It is my plan to alternate the funds raised.”
The contribution is the first step towards the raising of £10,000 the St. Kitts and Nevis Association in Leeds pledged following its annual general meeting that was held on February 17 at the Leeds West Indian Centre in Chapeltown, Leeds, where nearly 50 members of the association launched a Breast Cancer Awareness Fund that is aimed at supporting women in the Federation.
Rev Gloria Griffin-Hanley, who is originally from Cayon, went to England in 1968 where she trained as a nurse and later a midwife. She obtained a Masters Degree in Social Science in 1995 and continued to work as Community Midwife until her retirement in June 2008. She is an active community worker and chairs a number of voluntary organisations.
She is a Pastor at a local Apostolic Church in Leeds, and Chair of the West Yorkshire Ecumenical Council (Established Churches) and Chair of the West Yorkshire African Caribbean Council of Churches (Black Minority Churches) and also sits as a Magistrate on the Leeds Bench.
