The annual National Conference on Volunteering was organised by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector between the 30th November and the 1st December 2018 at the Corinthia Hotel St George’s Bay. The theme of this year’s conference was “10 Years Supporting VOs”.
The first day took off with a welcome address by Dr. Noel Camilleri Chairperson of the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector .This was followed by an introduction by Mr. Ryan Borg, Head of Secretariat within the Ministry for Education & Employment and Mr. Robert Farrugia, Council Member of the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector and also Chair of the Events and Activities Sub-Committee. To open the plenary session titled, “The new VO Law” a short video was shown on the VO Act Amendments. Dr. Noel Camilleri, Chairperson of the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector delivered the plenary session followed by a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Mauro Pace Parascandalo. The guests on the panel were Dr. Noel Camilleri, Dr. Anthony Abela Medici (Commissioner for VOs), Dr. Maria Criminale (Senior Legal Officer in the Ministry for Education & Employment) and Mr. Ryan Borg (Head of Secretariat in the Ministry for Education & Employment).
On the second and final day, the Conference started with a set of workshops in the form of panel discussions: “National Strategy on Volunteering” with Mr. Nathan Farrugia (President, INSPIRE), Dr. Sue Vella (Lecture, UoM), Mr. Robert Farrugia (MCVS Council Member) and Prof. Carmel Borg (Lecture, UOM) as guests on the panel, “Good Practices by NGOs” with Ms. Claudia Taylor-East (CEO, SOS Malta), Mr. Maurice Sleypen (President, Dr. Klown), Ms. Katherine Azzopardi (Director, Ċentru Tbexbix) and Mr. Saviour Grima as guests on the panel and “The Voluntary Sector – Moving forward through young volunteers” with Ms. Miriam Teuma (CEO, Aġenzija Żgħażagħ), Mr. Gilmour Borg (SIGA Ambassador for Special Olympics Athletes) and Mr. Jorge Grech (Active Member, Banda San Mikiel Zabbar) as guests on the panel. These 3 workshops were delivered again after a coffee break.
There was another panel discussion: “Celebrating 10 years of Voluntary Organisations’ with guests on the panel: Dr. Ugo Mifsud Bonnici (H.E President Emeritus), Fr. Alexander Cauchi (Ġesù fil-Proxxmu) and Mr. Robert Farrugia (MCVS Council Member and Chair of the Events and Activities Sub-Committee) and moderated by Mr. Damian Attard (MCVS Council Member).
The conference was officially closed off by the address of Mr. Robert Farrugia as Chair of the Events and Activities Sub-Commitee within the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector.