Team Members

Sandy, Dino, and Norma founded ACC in 2023

A Special Person

Norma Khoury has been a driving force in the formation of ACC - Aegina Cat Care; her excellent management, interpersonal and language skills, her determination, dynamism, optimism and encouragement, have greatly helped ACC to get up and running.

But curiously, when she first moved to Aegina she didn't consider herself to be primarily a cat person. But every day, passing the dumpsters near her house, the sight of sick, hungry cats and kittens scrabbling around for scraps, moved her. She reached out for help and sterilising the strays near her house became one of our first projects, even before ACC had become an official charity. From then on Norma became a crucial part of the team. Her growing fondness and compassion for felines led her to volunteer to nurse a kitten suffering badly from pernicious cat flu. She went all out to save the ailing kitten, and in doing so became absolutely besotted. She ended up adopting 'Susie' who now occupies a significant corner of Norma's big heart.

Sandy has been involved in animal welfare on Aegina ever since she first came to live here more than 30 years ago. She has lost count of the many feral cats she has taken to be sterilised. She has worked at Aegina's dog shelter, run by Animal Protection Aegina Agistri ( APAA), and was very much involved in helping Vrouva farm sanctuary get started. During lockdown she decided to trap, neuter and release members of a pack of more than 30 stray dogs. The space she rented for them to be cared for before and after surgery, Villa Stray, evolved into a sanctuary for very phobic, traumatised stray dogs.

In 2023 Elizabeth Koubena, who had been running Animal Protection's stray cat sterilisation program on Aegina for many years, asked if anyone would be willing to take over the cat sterilisation program. Dino Mahoney, Norma Khoury and Sandy Kalamaras decided to take on the challenge and Aegina Cat Care was created.

Joy had been visiting the island of Aegina since 1987. She became involved in animal welfare after finding a very sick kitten as she was about to leave the island. Sandy Kalimaras helped her find a solution and there began a wonderful friendship and collaberation. Joy has since helped enourmously with many projects and rescues.

Joy has built up quite a cat lover following in the UK and is very happy to answer questions and offer advice.

Konstandinos (Dino) Mahoney, based in London and the Greek island of Aegina is of Greek-English-Irish heritage. He won publication of his second collection, ‘THE GREAT COMET OF 1996 FORETELLS’ in the Live Canon Poetry Collection Competition 2021, published 2022. His first collection, 'TUTTI FRUTTI' was a Sentinel Publication Poetry Book Competition winner. Dino won the Poetry Society’s Stanza Competition with his poem, 'Dr Mirabilis and the Brass Wall That Will Save England.' He teaches Creative Writing at Hong Kong University (visiting lecturer), blogs for the Asian Literary Review, and is rep for Barnes and Chiswick Stanza. He is also part of DINO and the DIAMONDS a group that performs his poems as songs.  

Listen to Dino reading from 'The Great Comet of 1996 Foretells': youtu.be/niP5AIWvcXc

You can order your copy of The Great Comet of 1996 Foretells'

Maria started feeding stray cats at a very young age. Her care for cats progressed and soon she was taking them to the vet when they needed treatment and having them sterilised. Her dedication to the cats of Aegina has made a huge difference and has saved and improved the lives of many stray cats.