First edition of the BOV social week turns employee action into community impact
Bank of Valletta, in collaboration with the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI), hosted its first-ever BOV Social Week, bringing employees together for a week of meaningful action in support of initiatives centred on people, communities and the environment. Held between the 7th and 11th September, the week included blood donation, the collection of school essentials for children living in residential care, and volunteering.
The week opened with employees leaving their desks to assist BirdLife Malta’s conservation work at the Għadira Nature Reserve. This activity reflected the Bank’s commitment to giving back through volunteering. In the first eight months of this year, 400 employees benefited from the Bank’s one day of volunteering leave, contributing up to 3,200 hours to NGOs working across social and environmental sectors.
BOV Social Week also saw around 50 employees step forward to donate blood, most of them for the first time, at the Blood Donation Mobile Unit stationed outside the BOV Centre in Santa Venera.
Children from Fondazzjoni Sebħ and St Joseph Home spent an afternoon at the BOV Centre’s Internal Street during an interactive workshop organised in collaboration with the NGOs Żibel and Nature Trust. Employees also donated a range of school essentials, which were presented to Fondazzjoni Sebħ and St Joseph Home by Chief Operations Officer (COO) Ernest Agius during the closing activity of the BOV Social Week. The response was so generous that additional items will be donated to other organisations working with children.
As part of the week, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kenneth Farrugia and Chief Operations Officer Ernest Agius visited Karl Vella Foundation and Id-Dar tal-Providenza, two organisations whose work touches many lives. The visits offered an opportunity to meet the people behind these organisations, gain a deeper understanding of their work, and reaffirm BOV’s commitment to causes that bring care, dignity and support to the community.
Commenting on Bank of Valletta’s first-ever Social Week, the CEO and COO thanked all employees who took part and collectively helped extend the Bank’s support to people and communities. They said, “Social Week provided another opportunity for us at BOV to give back to society and support different entities. It strengthened our commitment to causes that touch lives, strengthen communities and help protect the environment around us.”
BOV Social Week was coordinated by the BOV Corporate Social Responsibility Team, led by Charles Azzopardi, Head of CSR, Events and Business Alliances. He thanked his team for bringing the week together and acknowledged the strong response from employees, whose participation helped make the first edition a success.
