The Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS) has announced the first two schemes for this year.

These schemes are the NGO Co-Financing Fund (NCF), which grants voluntary organisations with a percentage of co-financing that European funds do not cover, and the Training Initiatives Scheme (TIS), which is a scheme that offers financial support for training to voluntary organisations and its members.

The launch of the NCF and TIS schemes took place at the St. Jeanne Antide Foundation - a voluntary organisation which specialises in cases for vulnerable families and individuals. This Foundation has benefitted from various MCVS schemes and is currently organising training financed by the new TIS scheme.

The NCF scheme assists voluntary organisations in co-financing projects via European funds. The total allocation for this year is €150,000. In the nine years since this scheme was first established, a total of €1.35 million has been allocated to the NCF scheme, from which 168 projects have benefitted from.

This fund is not a substitute for European funds but complements them, it was described. This includes funds from the European Union, EEA grants, Norway Grants, Bilateral Agreements and Council of Europe funds.

Applications for this year's NCF scheme will be open online through the website vofunding.org.mt as of Wednesday, 29 January 2025, at noon.

Funds will be awarded on a first come, first served basis. This scheme will close once all funds have been exhausted. Information meetings will also be held to guide organisations through the application process.

Through the TIS, voluntary organisations and its members can obtain financial support for their training; a total sum of €40,000 has been allocated towards this year's scheme. Since the TIS was first launched in 2018, approximately €340,000 has been allocated into these training funds.

This scheme comprises of two separate programmes - one for individual members of voluntary organisations to attend training, and the other at an organisational level for whole organisations. For individuals, training in this regard can either be local or abroad; one's attendance can be in-person or online.

The subject of the training must be either specifically related to the voluntary organisation's work or on volunteering in general.

Applications for this scheme will be open on the website vofunding.org.mt as of Wednesday, 12 February 2025, at noon. The window to submit such applications will close on Thursday, 13 March 2025, at noon, and information meetings on this application process are also available to VOs.

The Minister for Voluntary Organisations, Julia Farrugia, remarked that these MCVS schemes are crucial tools that these groups may utilise.

"Financial assistance for projects as well as training for volunteers are crucial to ensuring a sector that continues to evolve, strengthen, and respond to today's challenges. With this commitment, we are promoting a more inclusive, active and just society, where every individual feels a part of this collective journey towards a better future," Minister Farrugia stated.

"The voluntary sector is the heart of our society and reflects the best values of our communities - solidarity, unity, and spending time and energy for the common good," she said.

The Chief Executive of the MCVS, Mauro Pace Parascandalo, commented that every time the MCVS announces new funds, it does so because it trusts organisations to complete projects and ideas for the most-needed training in the sector.

"This is evidence of a dynamic sector that continues to evolve with the society in which we live," he said.

Melanie Piscopo, the Executive Director of the St. Jeanne Antide Foundation (SJAF), explained that through these schemes, ten volunteers and employees are being trained in firefighting as a precautionary step to ensure people's safety in the event of an emergency.

Organisations applying for funding from any of these schemes must be registered and compliant with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations.

More information, as well as the application forms, can be found on the website: vofunding.org.mt.