The 20th edition of the ‘Gieh Ghajnsielem’ was awarded to Paul Azzopardi by Ghajnsielem Mayor Francis Cauchi, during a ceremony held at the Grand Hotel, Gozo.

The award was given for Paul’s voluntary work in the Ghajnsielem community, particularly his work with the St Joseph Band.

Mayor Francis Cauchi, during his address, said that Paul Azzopardi was an inspiration to us all thanks to his genuine love and dedication to anything related with the village of Ghajnsielem.

Paul Azzopardi was born in Ghajnsielem 1948. He is married to Rosina and has two children, Joseph and Charlie. He attended Ghajnsielem primary school until the age of 14 and then immediately started working on the Gozo boats (dghajjes tal-latini). After a long career on the sea spanning almost 30 years,

Paul then spent 5 years working as a carpenter and then went to the Works Department of the Central Government until he retired in 2009.

During his years working with the Works Department, Paul Azzopardi was assigned to the Ghajnsielem Local Council where he took his role as a handyman very seriously, sometimes even going out of his way to ensure the best interest of the locality. He used to report any faults, problems or issues immediately to solve them immediately.

Till the present day, Paul raises the Ghajnsielem Local Council flag on the mast found in ’10th December Square’ every Sunday and public holidays.

However, Paul Azzopardi is surely known for his love and dedication he has for the St Joseph Band. From a young age, he used to go every Sunday in Malta with the late Joseph Attard (one of the founders of the bandin 1060’s) at the band clubs. He used to give a helping hand in the construction of the club premises in the early 1970’s and kept volunteering in whatever was needed.

During the last few years, Paul Azzopardi has been entrusted with the upkeeping of the band club’s premises including maintenance, cleaning, decoration and whatever else is needed to ensure that the St Joseph Club is kept in the best way possible.

After the construction of the band club’s premises, his biggest wish has always been that of having a Musical Archive inside the club – a dream he fulfilled in 2012 when it was inaugurated during the Feast of Our Lady of Loreto.

Paul Azzopardi never declined to give a helping hand to the other local organisations including the football club, ghaqda armar, Bethlehem f’Ghajnsielem, the Parish and any other organisations related with Ghajnsielem.

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