The works on a new garden for Hospice Malta patients and their families are underway, providing a safe, therapeutic green space.
The Hospice Garden next to Hospice Malta’s new palliative care centre in Santa Venera, is one of 16 community open spaces across Malta and Gozo that Project Green is funding through its €10 million Community Greening Grant scheme.
Minister for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise Miriam Dalli met Hospice Malta and Project Green during a visit at this garden comprising of 2,700 square metres of open space, amid one of the locality’s built-up areas.
The Hospice Garden encapsulates the vision of the Community Greening Grant, as it combines the environmental and communal needs of the community to establish an innovative and sustainable green area. Designed with attention to inclusivity, the Garden will be a tranquil space for vulnerable patients who cannot visit public places due to risks to their health. It integrates water features and patches of vegetation to stimulate sensory experiences, as well as relaxation spaces for patients’ families, including play areas for children.
The project also includes a new reservoir to harvest rainwater for the Garden’s irrigation.
Minister Dalli commended Hospice Malta and Project Green for transforming land originally earmarked for development into a new garden. “This oasis of greenery will offer a serene environment for patients and their families, while helping Hospice Malta in its mission to support the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of its patients,” Miriam Dalli said.
Hospice Malta Chairperson Bernadette Bonnici Kind, said how this new garden offers serenity and tranquillity, as well as a therapeutic environment which is needed by Hospice patients. She explained that in this garden, St. Michael Hospice patients can spend some quality time with their family in such difficult times.
The Minister also explained that a few months ago, Project Green invited local councils, NGOs and other organisations to propose green projects in their community. “In less than a year, the most sustainable proposals were identified and today we are here to follow the first works of these community-led initiatives. The other 15 projects are underway as we announced in the 2024 Budget. Our vision is to continue empowering our communities to create a better environment in their localities.”
Steve Ellul, CEO of Project Green, explained that the Community Greening Grant scheme is giving organisations such as Hospice Malta the required financial resources to invest in sustainability. It is funding the creation of 80,000 square metres of green open spaces in 16 different localities. “As it nears its first anniversary, Project Green has already invested in 40,000 square meters of new and regenerated green spaces. This is just the beginning of our commitment to continue investing in new and existing parks and gardens in Malta and Gozo,” Ellul concluded.
For more information on Project Green and the Community Greening Grant scheme, visit project.green or follow the Project Green and Sostenibilita socials.
Jibda x-xogħol fuq ġnien ġdid għall-pazjenti ta’ Hospice Malta
Għaddejjin ix-xogħlijiet fuq ġnien ġdid li se jipprovdi spazju aħdar sigur u terapewtiku għall-pazjenti ta’ Hospice Malta u l-familji tagħhom.
Dan il-ġnien, ħdejn iċ-ċentru l-ġdid tal-kura paljattiva ta’ Hospice Malta f’Santa Venera, huwa wieħed mis-16-il spazju miftuħ fil-komunità madwar Malta u Għawdex li Project Green qed tiffinanzja permezz tal-iskema Community Greening Grant ta’ €10 miljun.
Il-Ministru għall-Ambjent, l-Enerġija u l-Intrapriża Miriam Dalli, flimkien ma’ Project Green u Hospice Malta żaru l-ewwel xogħlijiet li qed isiru f’dan il-ġnien ta’ madwar 2,700 metru kwadru li jinsab fost l-aktar żoni urbani f’Malta.
Dan il-ġnien jiġbor il-viżjoni tal-Community Greening Grant, peress li jgħaqqad il-ħtiġijiet tal-komunità u dawk ambjentali sabiex ikun hemm żona ħadra innovattiva u sostenibbli. Iddisinjat b’attenzjoni għall-inklussività, il-ġnien se jkun spazju trankwill għall-pazjenti vulnerabbli li ma jistgħux iżuru postijiet pubbliċi minħabba riskji għal saħħithom. Dan il-proġett se jinkludi wkoll żoni ta’ veġetazzjoni, żoni ddedikati għat-tfal, kif ukoll spazju fejn il-familji tal-pazjenti jistgħu jirrilassaw.
Il-proġett jinkludi wkoll ġibjun ġdid biex jinġabar l-ilma tax-xita għat-tisqija tal-ġnien.
Il-Ministru Dalli faħħret lil Hospice Malta u Project Green talli qed jittrasformaw art oriġinarjament maħsuba għall-iżvilupp fi ġnien ġdid. “Dan l-ispazju aħdar se joffri ambjent seren għall-pazjenti u l-familji tagħhom, filwaqt li tgħin lil Hospice Malta fil-missjoni tagħha li tappoġġa l-bżonnijiet fiżiċi, emozzjonali u spiritwali tal-pazjenti tagħha,” qalet Miriam Dalli.
Il-Ministru Dalli spjegat ukoll kif ftit xhur ilu, Project Green stieden lill-kunsilli lokali, NGOs u għaqdiet oħra biex jipproponu proġetti ħodor fil-komunità tagħhom. “F’inqas minn sena ġew identifikati l-aktar proposti sostenibbli u llum qegħdin hawn biex insegwu l-ewwel xogħlijiet ta’ dawn l-inizjattivi mmexxija mill-komunità. Għaddej ix-xogħol ukoll fil-15-il proġett l-oħra kif ħabbarna fil-Budget 2024. Il-viżjoni tagħna hija li nkomplu nagħtu s-setgħa lill-komunitajiet tagħna biex joħolqu ambjent aħjar fil-lokalitajiet tagħhom.”
Il-Kap Eżekuttiv ta’ Project Green Steve Ellul, spjega kif l-iskema Community Greening Grant qed tagħti għajnuna finanzjarja lill-għaqdiet bħal Hospice Malta, biex jinvestu fis-sostenibbiltà. Din l-iskema qed tiffinanzja mal-80,000 metru kwadru ta’ spazju miftuħ f’16-il lokalità differenti. “Hekk kif Project Green daqt se tkun qed tiċċelebra l-ewwel anniversarju mit-twaqqif tagħha, ħa tkun investiet f’40,000 metru kwadru ta’ spazji ġodda u rriġenerati. Dan huwa l-bidu tal-impenn tagħna li nkomplu ninvestu f’parks u ġonna ġodda u eżistenti f’Malta u Għawdex,” ikkonkluda Ellul.
Għal aktar informazzjoni fuq Project Green u l-iskema Community Greening Grant, żur project.green jew segwi l-midja soċjali ta’ Project Green u Sostenibiltà.