Three Church entities that run residential homes for children will work together on a project that will continue to improve the lives of children and adolescents living in Church homes.

This project will be carried out with an investment of €250,000, of which 80% will be co-financed by European Union funds and the rest will be financed by the Church.

The Archdiocese of Malta said that it will not only benefit the children who reside there but also the professionals who work with them. At present, in these Church houses live 72 children who come from difficult circumstances in their family, and who have been entrusted to the Church by the State for their care and protection.

The details of the project were announced during a press conference held yesterday at Dar Fra Diego, Ħamrun, and addressed by Yvonne Mallia, Director of Fondazione Sebħ, Mons. Charles Cordina, Episcopal Vicar for Diaconia; and by Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi. Also present were Fr Louis Mallia from the St. Joseph’s Home Foundation of the St. Paul’s Missionary Society, and Clive Bonnici from St Patrick’s Residential Services from the Don Bosco Salesian Order.

Sebħ Foundation, St. Joseph's Home Foundation and St Patrick's Residential Services, which together take care of ten residential homes, will begin this research in the coming weeks through which a training program will be designed that will focus on realities and the particular challenges children face. It will benefit 80 workers in all three entities.

In addition, 30 children and adolescents aged between seven and 17 will be provided with the tools and skills needed to better integrate into society and the world of work, thus being able to live an independent life. This will be done through individual therapeutic sessions as well as educational workshops. The whole project is spread over 18 months.

The Episcopal Vicar for Diakonia, Mons. Charles Cordina praised the initiative of these three Church entities working together to further improve the quality of service they have been providing for many years.

He said that in this area the centre of everything that has to do with children because the Church believes that the centre of everything is man. Mons. Cordina said the Church, through its work in society, restores the dignity of the disadvantaged and helps them move forward. He thanked the Government for its participation in projects carried out with the help of European funds.

Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi explained how this project, which is being co-financed by European funds, will be looking at the needs of children and their carers for further training and at how much opportunities increase for children to have a better future. Zrinzo Azzopardi stressed that this is an important investment as it is ensuring that even children are given all the opportunities to succeed in life regardless of their background.

Yvonne Mallia, Director of the Sebħ Foundation, said that the foundation believes that the quality of the service that the Church offers in society depends very much on the quality of the work offered by the professionals who play an important role in the life and upbringing of children.

She said that continuous training is also important in the professional development of the same workers. Mallia explained that these children do not live in institutions, but in environments that are as similar as possible to that of a family. She appealed to society to recognize the abilities and potential that these children have who deserve love and a bright future.

This project, which is the first of its kind, will benefit from the European Structural Funds (2014-2020).