Association holds Christmas market on 23 November

The Rome-based Peter Pan Onlus association, which provides support for families with children suffering from cancer, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Each year the centre welcomes dozens of families from all over Italy, and further afield, whose children travel to Rome for specialist cancer treatment.

The Casa di Peter Pan, situated behind the Regina Coeli prison on Via S. Francesco di Sales in Trastevere, comprises three adjacent buildings offering a total of 33 bedrooms. It also has common areas that allow guests to socialise, providing families with some sense of normality during a very difficult time.

Since its first house opened 14 years ago, the centre has welcomed 600 families, 80 per cent of which came from across Italy, while the other 20 per cent travelled to Rome from 24 different countries around the world. The charity relies on donations and the help of its volunteers whose number has grown from seven in 1994 to 240 today.

On Sunday 23 November the charity will hold its annual Bottega della Mani Felici Christmas market at Villa Mercadante, Via Saverio Mercandante 22, from 11.00-18.00. The handmade gifts on sale were created by the Peter Pan volunteers and all proceeds go towards the centre's upkeep.

In February last year the Casa del Peter Pan received a ten-day eviction notice from the Istituti Raggruppati per l'Assistenza all'Infanzia (IRAI) but this was overturned by the newly-elected president of the Lazio Region Nicola Zingaretti who guaranteed the organisation a rent-free building.

However the centre continues to rely on charity and donations are always welcome, in the form of funds, goods, services and voluntary help. For more information on how to help the Casa di Peter Pan see website.