As the world was busily gearing up towards Valentine's Day, BOV employees took the altruistic spirit further by participating in a dress down to raise awareness and collect funds for the Appoġġ Children's Fund.

Friday the 13th certainly proved to be a day of providence for the children within the care of Appoġġ as over 1,500 BOV employees came together by contributing towards the AppoġġChildren's Fund.

Roberta Agius, Services Manager at Appoġġ explained the challenges of making ends meet when they receive requests for children's care facilities."The requests are legitimate, however, the Children's Fund committee study each request well to ensure that money will be available for a lot of children rather than approving an expensive request for just one child. This means that more children would be able to benefit from this fund. We try to intervene as soon as possible, but availability of funds remain our major hurdle. We depend a lot on benefactors for donations."

Appoġġ Children's Fund traces its origin to 2003. It was setup with the intention of focusing its efforts to address the needs of vulnerable children, whilst remaining true to the values of  social equality and inclusion. The carers tap into this Fund to assist the distinct requirements of the children.

In line with its Corporate Social Responsibility principles, Bank of Valletta regularly organises dress down days with the intention to raise funds and help organisations, such as Appoġġ, to achieve their social objectives.