Voluntary associations will benefit from a scheme of almost one million euros The Maltese Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS) has relaunched the Voluntary Organizations Projects Scheme 2024, better known as VOPS.
€800,000 have been allocated which will be shared between voluntary associations for different initiatives such as community projects, infrastructure initiatives or research. Under this scheme during the last seven years approximately €6.5 million have been allocated. Eligible projects can be from all areas from the voluntary sector, such as sustainable environment, art, music, sport, education, culture, civil rights and the field of young people.
Apart from that, this year part of the funds will be dedicated to strengthening inclusion related to health and disability. Projects and initiatives that promote or help to have a more inclusive community will be highlighted. The Minister for Inclusion, Volunteering and Consumer Rights Julia Farrugia Portelli described the field of volunteering as a pulse in the community through which a clearer and more direct picture of community life is conveyed.
“That’s why the shoulder we provide them is deserved. A shoulder with which we continue to incentivize them in their work, work which in turn continues to support what the State is already offering in the particular field. A typical example is the voluntary association Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta from the site of which we are launching the VOPS scheme for this year. Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta aims to provide food to those most in need. In this way we are seeing in a practical way how the VOPS funds helped to operate this initiative, but we are also seeing how many associations, through these funds, get the energy they need to start the project and after the funds run out, the project will remain strong and alive,” said Minister Farrugia Portelli.
Mauro Pace Parascandalo, Chief Executive of the MCVS, said that, “Through the VOPS scheme, we are seeing in a tangible way the great fruits of these hundreds of projects that voluntary associations from all spheres of -life they are leaving in our society. It is also pleasing to see that after the funds have been used, many of these projects remain active, healthy, and continue to do continuous good as we are seeing here in the Soup Kitchen which is a living initiative in the heart of -community”.
Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta is one of the voluntary organizations that benefited from the VOPS funds. Through the scheme, training was given to the volunteers, infrastructural work was carried out, building maintenance and even the publication of informative and promotional material so that the service reaches those who need it most. An app was also made for donations from supermarkets through SIS funds.
During the past year, Valletta Soup Kitchen provided more than 120,000 meals and was Malta’s winner of the European Citizen Award 2023. The applications for this year’s VOPS scheme will open on the website vofunding.org.mt from Monday 11 September and will be received until noon on Friday 20 October 2023. There will also be a meeting of ‘ information in order to be a guide for the associations during the application process.
All voluntary organizations that are registered and compliant with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations are eligible for funds. The funding scheme Voluntary Organizations Projects Scheme (VOPS) 2024 is an initiative led by the Maltese Council for the Voluntary Sector within the Ministry for Inclusion, Volunteering and Consumer Rights. More information from maltacvs.org.
Photos (MIVC)
