At an evening cocktail on the rooftop of the CVAR in old Nicosia, in the presence of the Commissioner for Volunteerism, Yiannis Yiannakis, and many Cans For Kids volunteers and friends, Hazem Hamed was presented with Cans For Kids’ Volunteer of the Year award, along with a cheque for 100 euros. Hazem, who was fleeing war-torn Syria when the boat he was in was shipwrecked off the coast of Cyprus in 2014, put in the most hours of our volunteers over the year 2015, both at Saturday can sorting and other events attended by the charity to raise awareness about recycling. His commitment is all the more impressive because once he was granted refugee status he found a job in Limassol and travelled up to Nicosia by bus almost every weekend to help with the can sorting.

The Volunteerism Commissioner presents Hazem Hamed with his award