Following the Another for a Mother campaign during the run up to Mothers’ Day, a total of 640 gifts consisting entirely of soaps were donated by the four branches of The Body Shop in Malta and Gozo to Suret il-Bniedem, the foundation managing two refuge shelters for men and women in need. Customers wrote messages of support on those labels which The Body Shop stores provided in order to seal such gifts. Words such as “Do not give up, hang on, we are thinking of you” and “We know what you are going through, so do not feel alone” were among the most touching messages written.

Simone Mizzi, franchisee for The Body Shop in Malta said “we had a thrilling response to this promotion for Mothers Day especially from Valletta customers who were most generous giving us the opportunity to donate 264 gifts from this outlet alone.

Through our Gozitan customers we donated 140 soaps to the foundation, the Bugibba branch gave us 126 and the Sliema branch at The Plaza collected 110 where we honestly hoped we would collect more. We have been most touched by the moving messages of support that customers took the time to write and on behalf of our team, I wish to thank those members of the public who followed our call for help so promptly”.

Emma Portelli, coordinator for the shelter for women in Valletta, Dar Tereza Spinelli, was overwhelmed and said the gifts would not only bring good cheer to those who were given refuge but would also enable them to raise the funds necessary for the home to establish its own emergency helpline and to purchase equipment for a childrens’ play area. Dar Tereza Spinelli, which opened in November 2002, can shelter up to 25 women who sometimes leave home with their children.

Most of these women are victims of domestic violence, women coming out of mental institutions or who have terminated prison sentences, women coming out of the prostitution circuit and who have no home to go to.

The campaign “Another for a Mother” is one of a series of initiatives of The Body Shop to raise awareness about domestic violence.

The four stores in Malta and Gozo will continue providing ongoing support to Suret il- Bniedem with other fund raising initiatives and the distribution of informative material on a long term basis.