At the end of 2010 the Bank of Cyprus announced that it would contribute €2 million to the Centre for the Study of Haematological Malignancies, specifically for the construction of the Centre. At an event held on 21 December 2010 at the Bank’s central offices in Nicosia, a cheque for €2 million was handed over to the Centre in the presence of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Demetris Christofias. Transplant donors – those selfless individuals who in 2010 had performed the most altruistic of acts by literally giving their fellow citizens back their lives – were also highly praised and honored at the event.