Deadline: 20-Oct-23
The Voluntary Organisations Project Scheme (VOPS), managed and administered by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS), is designed to assist applicants looking for funding on projects that can make a real difference, while stimulating and financially supporting voluntary organisations to continue to come up with innovative and sustainable initiatives for the benefit of the communities they work in.
Objectives
The general objectives establishing the VOPS Scheme are the following:
- To stimulate co-operation and networking between voluntary organisations.
- To provide a consultative forum that can effectively address issues related to the Voluntary Sector.
- To support the work of voluntary organisations as an integral part of civil society.
- To enhance the capacity building of voluntary organisations.
- To provide a platform from which to develop co-operation between voluntary organisations and the Government.
- To promote and encourage a culture of volunteering and the participation in volunteer activities among people, especially children and youths, as an aspect of personal and social development.
- To foster co-operation in the volunteer sector with local and international bodies, entities or other persons for the encouragement and promotion of the development of volunteering programmes, binitiatives, and activities.
- To encourage, in furtherance of the principle of subsidiary, nongovernmental bodies and private entities or persons and local councils to contribute to the promotion of volunteering in Malta.
Priorities
In addition to the objectives, the general priorities of the VOPS are the following:
- Volunteering
- This priority is intended to encourage projects aimed at raising awareness of the value and importance of volunteering as a form of active engagement and as a tool to develop or improve competences for personal, social and professional development.
- Poverty and Social Inclusion (Sustainable Development Goal 1 and 2)
- This priority is intended to encourage projects addressing the issues of Poverty, marginalisation and hate speech by focusing on actions such as enhancing awareness and commitment amongst the Maltese society to make it more inclusive. In this context, special emphasis shall be placed on the inclusion of migrants, disabled young people and other marginalized minorities in fulfilling their potential.
- Good Health and Wellbeing (Sustainable Development Goal 3)
- This priority is intended to encourage projects addressing the issues of Health and Disability ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all persons by focusing on actions such as creating awareness, supporting patients, promote early warning and risk reduction.
- Education (Sustainable Development Goal 4)
- This priority is intended to encourage projects addressing the issues related to education with special focus on the support of marginalised and more challenged groups in the Maltese society.
VOPS 2024 shall have four specific Actions
- Action 1 – Project Based Initiatives
- Action 2 – Infrastructural Projects
- Action 3 – Research Projects
- Action 4 – Inclusion – Health and Disability
Funding Information
- Enrolled Voluntary Organisations can submit to one of the following Actions and specific budgets:
- Action 1: Supports Project Based Initiatives – €400,000
- Action 2: Supports Infrastructural Projects – €200,000
- Action 3: Supports Research Projects – €40,000
- Action 4: Supports Inclusion – Health, and Disability – €160,000
- The amount requested by a beneficiary organisation shall be:
- Action 1: Not be less than €5,000 and not more than €20,000.
- Action 2: Not be less than €5,000 and not more than €20,000.
- Action 3: Not be less than €4,000 and not more than €10,000.
- Action 4: Not be less than €5,000 and not more than €20,000.
- The period of implementation should commence on the 1st March 2024 and terminate by not later than the 28th February 2025. Projects should be implemented over a maximum period of twelve (12) consecutive months.
Eligibility Criteria
- The applicant must be a voluntary organisation which is enrolled and compliant with the Commissioner for the Voluntary Sector by the closure date of application.
- The project should be innovative and not a repeat of previously approved projects by the same organisation.
- Only one e-application per Voluntary Organisations shall be submitted in this deadline.
- This implies that an organisation may only benefit from one action that falls under the same call.
For more information, visit VOPS.