WATCH: €120,000 In Grants To Fund Social Change In Malta Will Be Given Away Tonight
The Social Impact Awards are back for a second year, and tonight’s ceremony will see eight passionate people pitching new initiatives towards social change in Malta. To make sure the proposals gets enough of a leg-up, a total of €120,000 in grants will be given away to fund some of the most amazing ideas.
Watch the ceremony live here starting at 7:30pm
The initiative is a collaboration between The Gasan Foundation, Inspirasia Foundation and MeDirect, and took off to a very successful first edition last year. Back in June, an overwhelming number of applications were sent in, and now, eight projects have been shortlisted ahead of tonight’s final.
Streamed live on their Facebook page at 7:15pm, the awards ceremony at Le Meridien will see finalists pitch their ideas in a’ la Dragon’s Den. They’ve already received non-financial support in the form of mentoring services by TAKEOFF, and their next step is being paired with a CEO from the Malta Academy of Chief Executives.
These are the eight lucky finalists who will be presenting their project to a selected panel of judges and an audience of philanthropists, professionals and corporate leaders who could potentially offer further support.
1. SAHA!
Migrant Women Association Malta want to integrate and empower migrant women living in Malta through employment.
That opportunity has come in the form of SAHA, a food truck serving international, healthy dishes to the Maltese public. The cuisine itself also reflects the different nationalities of the women working on the food truck, using their strengths and capabilities to build a social enterprise.
2. Happy Children with Friendship Cards
Aiming to help children develop emotional literacy and conflict resolution skills, this series of workshops aimed for little ones has an educational tool at its very heart.
Friendship Cards, a project submitted by Relationships Are Forever, aims to reach out to over 1,000 children and families by training teachers in schools and giving each child a set of Friendship Cards. These cards are aimed to empower the individual to cultivate positive attitudes.
3. iContribute
What started off as the successful Contribute Water project, iContribute is taking things to a whole new level.
While the idea behind this project is very simple, its projected effects are far-reaching. The concept revolves around a sticker or logo that can be put on any product or service, meaning that part of its sales price will go to a local charity organisation. This essentially transforms whatever the sticker or logo is affixed to into a charity product or service.
4. Green Roads Malta
Green Roads already has Transport Malta’s support, but they want to take things to a whole new to significantly reduce traffic and pollution from Malta’s streets.
Coming in the form of a free mobile app, Green Roads’ proposal aims to make carpooling easier, even offering rewards in exchange. Public transport is also on the list of sustainable forms of mobility that Green Roads would love to push towards.
5. Giving Gardens
Terra Firma Collective is a platform for NGOs working on environmental issues in Malta and Gozo, and their submitted project is a very ambitious one.
They want to create a collection of four community gardens in urban centres, “refreshing green oases where young and old could rest, share and learn how to create and grow sustainable beauty together.”
The Giving Gardens project promises to be a radical new way to unite communities with anything from growth of fresh organic food, to innovative art presentation spaces.
6. Making Caregiving a Positive Experience
The Malta Hospice Movement is also in the list of finalists for tonight, and it’s all about an effective after hours on-call service.
By offering professional nursing advice and guidance when it comes to symptom management and emotional support, Hospice Malta wants to reduce isolation, avoid hospitalisation and enable patients to die at home should this by their wish.
Over 1,000 families may benefit from this after-hours service, which will be absolutely free of charge, and a time when other professionals are not easily available.
7. Sport4Youth
The Malta Youth Athletes Network want to use sport to create social impact.
By increasing youth participation in sport – particularly those coming from underprivileged backgrounds, they want to raise awareness on obesity and promote healthy living on the island.
8. Enlight – Promoting Mental Health, Preventing Mental Illness
The Organisation of Psychology Students (OOPS) is a group of students from the Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary school who want to introduce a free walk-in clinic on campus.
The clinic, called Enlight, will enable students to access the services of a clinical psychologist with minimal delay, but will also make sure that mental health services are readily available to youth, both as prevention and as early detection of mental disorders is crucial.
OOPS believe that this will in turn help to change public attitudes and decrease the stigma associated with mental illness.
The Social Impact Awards ceremony goes live on Facebook tonight at 7:15pm, and Lovin Malta will also be sharing the live stream.
A collaboration between Maltese businesses and company foundations has raised the impressive €120,000, and this number will be donated as grants and shared by the best and most effective submissions.
An Audience Participation Award will also be awarded to the audiences’ favourite project through their contributions to the event that will give 100% of the contribution to a project.
“With these awards we hope to inspire people to give, give more and give smart.” said Mr. Mark Weingard, founder of Inspirasia Foundation.
Anyone interested in attending this Awards or even offer support to a project can find the awards on Facebook or contact [email protected].
Which project is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below!
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