On Monday 6th June, members of the Greek community of Margate, including the president of the community Michael Papadopoullos and vice president George Antoniou, visited the Houses of Parliament in London.

The tour was organised by the local MP and great friend of Cyprus Sir Roger Gale. Sir Roger is a supporter of Cyprus and now chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group for Cyprus. He takes part in the functions of the Greek community of Margate and since 1984 he has attended the Blessing of the Seas ceremony (Epiphany) every year without fail.

The visit was truly enlightening and humbling at the same time.

The tour guide who accompanied the group explained the traditions of the two Houses and referred to some of their historic moments. One of the members of the community commented that walking along the corridors that great parliamentarians and Prime Ministers did, made him feel very special!

Mr. Papadopoullos thanked Sir Roger Gale for arranging the trip. In reply, Sir Roger Gale said that it was his absolute pleasure to facilitate the tour for the Greek Orthodox community of Margate.

The community of Margate through Mr. Papadopoullos also expressed their appreciation to Mr. Doros Partasides who was kind enough to meet and greed the group and attends all the special events of our community. Mr. Partasides’ efforts to promote the cultural activities and celebrations of Greek communities in the UK should be acknowledged and applauded.