Gozo Tourism Association presented with the Gozo NGO Award

by Gozo News · December 6, 2015

The Gozo NGOs Association, this morning held the second edition of the Gozo NGOs Award on Saturday, during which the Gozo Tourism Association was presented with the Award for its 'Contribution to the Gozitan Society.'

The Award was presented during a ceremony to mark International Volunteer Day at the at the Karmni Grima Museum in Gharb..

The Parliamentary Secretary for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Active Ageing Justyne Caruana, addressed those present, giving praise and thanks all those involved in volunteering and stated that it is appropriate to appreciate and value all the work and enormous contribution that the non-governmental and voluntary society give as a whole, especially in Gozo.

She said that according to a study, the elderly are the ones most involved in volunteering, adding that it "shows our seniors play an important role both in this field and in the spirit of the implementation of the strategy – active elderly."

She also said that today the voluntary organisations have several challenges because due to new regulations they have to invest in their structures. She mentioned that the Secretariat has been involved in several projects with NGOs to enable them to have the peace of mind to continue to operate and provide their service.

She congratulated everyone who was nominated, as well as the organisers of the activity. Dr Caruana presented awards to several Gozitan people involved in volunteering.

The Minister for Gozo, Anton Refalo was also present for the ceremony and he expressed his satisfaction that the second edition of the Gozo NGO Award had been organised. Dr Refalo spoke on how important these non-governmental organisations are in assisting the development of Gozo.

Minister Refalo said that the Ministry is always ready to offer every possible assistance to these organisations to enable them to continue their valuable work in favour of the Gozo Society. The Minister mentioned how the Ministry for Gozo, through various schemes that are available, is helping these organisations.

He thanked all the NGOs for their work, while congratulating the winners of this edition. On presenting the Award to the GTA, the Minister for Gozo augured the Association well for its work in the future.

To mark the occasion of the International Day for Volunteers, a thanksgiving Mass was held at Our Lady of Ta' Pinu Sanctuary on Saturday evening, which was broadcast live on TVM2.