Naxxar Middle School students struggling with life’s challenges will start benefitting from psycho-social support after the Malta Trust Foundation secured €45,000 for its Blossom project that focuses on providing permanent counsellors in schools.

An agreement was signed today between the Deloitte Foundation, the Maria Regina College and the Malta Trust Foundation to secure the services of a counsellor at the school over the next three years.

Marc Alden, Deloitte Malta CEO, said “Deloitte is a purpose-led organisation – and our aim is to have an impact that matters on our clients, our people and on society. As our business grows and evolves, we feel a stronger need to live our purpose and to contribute to our local communities by leveraging on our skills, knowledge and resources.

“It is through projects such as this one that we are able to bring our purpose to life. We are very proud to be collaborating with The Malta Trust Foundation on this initiative, and are looking forward to the positive results, we are confident the project will reap.”

This project follows Blossom’s successful venture introduced at the St Paul’s Bay primary school nearly four years ago where two counsellors — funded by private entities — have since offered support to more than 400 children.

Trust president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said: “The scope behind Blossom is to secure the provision of counselling services in schools to empower children and bolster them with the skills to face life’s challenges through psycho-social support. This is a long-term investment in the child’s future.

“It is only through the commitment and sponsorship of private entities and companies intent on investing in their corporate social responsibility dimension that projects such as Blossom can exist. And it is immensely rewarding to see this venture today extend to Naxxar Middle School.”

The Trust’s scope is to add value to existing services, and by working hand in hand with the school’s administration, teachers and LSAs, three counsellors were eventually recruited to help the St Paul’s Bay primary school students, their parents and even administrative staff navigate through the psychological issues they encountered.

The Malta Trust Foundation remarked that projects like this are not possible without the financial support of private companies, such as Deloitte Malta, which recently set up the Deloitte Foundation – a non-profit voluntary organisation – as part of its ongoing commitment to make an impact in society.

Its goals are to support initiatives under four main pillars: quality education, environmental sustainability, cultural heritage and societal impact.