Last Updated on Saturday, 25 May, 2024 at 12:07 pm by Andre Camilleri
The Maltese Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS) has renewed the Small Initiatives Support Scheme (SIS) whose aim is to help voluntary organizations in a tangibly financial way, the Minister for Voluntary Work, Julia Farrugia Portelli, said.
The announcement was made at Friends of the Earth Malta (FOEM) which made use of this scheme through a project with the aim of strengthening the abilities of the organization, from its employees to its volunteers, and create a strategy for the organization to be more finincially sustainable in its operations. This should help the organization be in a better position to continue seeing a number of environmental projects that it implements in the community.
Farrugia Portelli said that year after year, this scheme has been of great support to many voluntary organizations. “Since its commencement in 2022, the SIS allowed the implementation of more that 420 projects through direct investment, with the help of over €1.2 million, in our voluntary organizations. As a government, we will keep on intensifying the help we offer so that more projects for the benefit of our communities keep on taking life.”
The Chairperson of the MCVS, Gertrude Buttigieg, said, “Every year we keep on seeing a number of these funds, that organizations have started to eagerly expect, and that always have enough applications for the projects of the greatest quality to be chosen for the good of the community.”
The Chief Executive of the MCVS, Mauro Pace Parascandalo, said that the variety of projects that are actualized through schemes like the SIS is proof of the success of the services that are being offered to the organizations. He added that no matter the sector of the organization, the SIS is flexible with a transparent process throughout.
The announced scheme has been allocated €180,000, through which, every application can request a maximum of €5,000 for each project or initiative. The applications will be open from the 29th of May 2024 to noon of the 10th of July and may be submitted through the vofunding.org.mt website. There will also be 2 informative meetings to help applicants with the submission process and for them to better understand the guidelines as well as the priorities.
The voluntary organizations that apply must be registered and confirm with the Commission of Voluntary Organizations. Further information may be obtained from maltacvs.org.
