By Heidi Trautmann

They are close to last year’s target for the Raffle ticket sales, they told me: “Well, we have been pushing hard in the last week to try and reach our last year's target of 14,000TL. We have to date got 11,550TL cash in hand and still have books to collect. We are over the moon as the response we have had from our friends, the general public and the press for supporting us and helping us to maintain the momentum of this raffle in what are hard economic times for us all.”

Everbody is watching the efforts by the two Tulips Angels and with it the regular reports on their progress: Will they make it?

We would very much like to say a huge thank you to Julia Price and her friends. Julia had organised a friends get together at The Club Ilgaz the other night, a group of about 40 people. On the night Julia had agreed for us to sell our raffle tickets and we raised an absolutely amazing 530TL. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to all who attended and who so generously bought our tickets with such friendliness and support. Julia, you are a star and we are both so very grateful for all your support you have given to Tulips over this last year and previous years.

Now only a few days to go to the draw (on Friday, Jan 11), so we will be pushing hard for a last minute surge but whatever we achieve is down to all the wonderful people who have so generously supported our raffle this year, may you all win!!!! You are winners anyway in our book. Thanks again, Carole and Sue.

Why should they be thanking us, I wonder. It is us that have to thank them, for their enthusiasm and great heart!