Inspirasia funds a much-needed research project on the Valletta community

Inspirasia Foundation is supporting the Valletta Local Council by donating €15,000 to fund a research project that will identify the needs of the Valletta community. The research project, ‘Understanding the Valletta Community’, will be conducted by the University of Malta under the coordination of Prof. Andrew Azzopardi, Dean of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing. The project aims to identify the needs of the local community by mapping the pressing social issues and challenges faced by the different neighbourhoods and the Valletta community as a whole. The results of the research will be used to create the basis for future projects that aim to improve the lives of the Valletta community.

“We are very appreciative of this philanthropic act towards the city of Valletta. There are challenges and areas within the Valletta community where, with more knowledge available, we can understand what resources need to be employed in order to improve what is in need of improvement,” Prof. Alfred J. Vella, Rector of the University of Malta.

In 2018, Inspirasia founder Mark Weingard approached Prof. Alexiei Dingli, the Mayor of Valletta at the time, to offer support towards the Valletta community. Through their discussions, it was concluded that there was no clear data on the issues and challenges the community faced, and that an assessment on the needs of the Valletta community needed to be carried out. The project is now being continued with the support of the new Mayor of Valletta, Alfred Zammit.  

“Valletta is the jewel of Malta. I have based my business [Iniala] here, which means we are part of the fabric of this city. It is our ethical obligation to give back to the Valletta community. To do this, we must find out the needs of its people first,” Mark Weingard, Founder of Inspirasia Foundation and Iniala.

Left to right - Dr Maria Brown, Alfred Zammit, Mark Weingard, Prof. Alfred J. Vella, Prof. Andrew Azzopardi, Prof. Alexiei Dingli