A fundraiser and raffle to raise money to buy vital equipment for Siem Reap Provincial Hospital will be held tomorrow night at X-Bar, featuring live music from the X-Bar house band, The X-Rays. The night’s festivities also mark the Expats and Locals Living in Siem Reap Facebook page reaching 3,000 members.

The night is organised by X-Bar manager Rick Eddington in conjunction with James Cook, a volunteer nurse educator at the Provincial Hospital.

Cook has been single-handedly organising what he claims is the “biggest and most prestigious raffle Siem Reap has ever seen.”

Cook, who worked as a nurse in UK and Australia for ten years, said he came up with the idea after having sourced various items of medical equipment for the hospital through his contacts.

“I’ve sourced loads of stuff already, critical care equipment that they’ve never had before and obviously provided all the necessary training to go with it. But there are only so many contacts and I’ve exhausted them all,” Cook says.

“So the idea came to me of doing a fundraiser.

Cook says people’s generosity has been overwhelming. There are over fifty prizes valued at $3,000-plus, including stays at Shinta Mani, FCC Angkor and Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa, as well as afternoon tea for two at Raffles, dinner at Abacus, and dinner for two and massage at Amansara. There are also massage vouchers, tickets for the circus, quad bike adventures and a moto tour.

“I’m blown away by the support,” he says. “There’s a whole range of different prizes and they’re amazing.”

Cook says he was the Provincial Hospital’s first long-term volunteer, and has worked there for 18 months training staff in various aspects of nursing.

He says money raised will go towards buying much-needed items for the hospital.

“The first thing that I was thinking of that we really needed was a suction machine,” he says. “I’m also thinking an electrocardiogram (ECG) machine. The one here is broken and they need a new one – they start at about $1000.”

The fundraising night will kick off at 6pm with a DJ followed by The X-Rays performing at 8.30pm. Entry is free. The raffle will be drawn after 9.30pm.

Raffle tickets can be purchased on the night or in advance from Sopheak Na Travels and Tours opposite the LG store on Tep Vong (Achamean) Rd.