About

The VSF Malta

The VSF Malta was setup on February 2019 by the Archdiocese of Malta. The Fund was established in light of the work done by the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice (CAPP) and by VSF International. The aim of the fund is to help people get on their feet by being more productive, which includes the possibility of helping with providing capital and resources for people aiming at starting some form of business. These will then pay back the borrowed capital sum with no interest to VSF Malta for the money to go to others who might need it in a ‘revolving loans’ system. .

Administrative Board

Prof Josef Bonnici (Chairperson)

Prof. Josef Bonnici, born 1953. Resident in Malta. Graduated from the University of Malta and Simon Fraser University, Canada. Former Governor of the Central Bank of Malta and member of the European Central Bank Governing Council until June 2016. Currently, he is member of the Audit Committee of the ECB, […]

Michael Pace Ross (Administrative Secretary of the Archdiocese of Malta)

Mr Pace Ross is the Administrative Secretary of the Archdiocese of Malta, following his appointment by Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna in 2015. He previously served as Director General of the National Statistics Office for six years, sitting on a number of national and European committees, including the European Statistical Advisory […]

Mario Galea (Treasurer)

A certified public accountant holding a warrant to practice both as an accountant and as an auditor.  Currently practising as a business advisor providing governance oversight and advisory services to businesses and corporations.  Serves as an independent non-executive director on the boards and audit committees of various listed companies in […]

Mgr Charles Cordina (Episcopal Vicar for Diaconia)

Mgr. Charles Cordina is the Episcopal Vicar for Diaconia. This means that in the name of the Archbishop he takes care of the involvement of the Church in Malta regarding social aspects. Born in 1949 at Paola, Malta and ordained priest in 1974. From then onwards he was assigned as […]

Dr Roberta Lepre

A certified public accountant holding a warrant to practice both as an accountant and as an auditor.  Currently practising as a business advisor providing governance oversight and advisory services to businesses and corporations.  Serves as an independent non-executive director on the boards and audit committees of various listed companies in […]

Nadia Pace

Nadia Pace, resident in Malta. Graduated from the University of Malta and the University of Sheffield. With over 15 years of experience in senior-level positions and occupying distinct board positions, Nadia has supported numerous companies set themselves up for growth, whilst providing business advisory services including, strategic growth plans, corporate […]

The VSF International

Our Ethos

The VSF International is a lay-led charity, open to everyone, providing long-term assistance to all, irrespective of their race, origin, religion and beliefs. Our vision is to help people to have equal access to education, healthcare, jobs and to become contributors to society.

Our Roots and Inspiration

The VSF International is a lay-led initiative, taking its roots in the principles of the Catholic social teachings, focusing on solidarity and common good. It is inspired by Pope Francis and his call to fight poverty and engage in effective and practical actions to promote integral human development.

The history of The VSF

Launched in 2017, the VSF International was inspired by the work and research done throughout the last 25 years by the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation (CAPPF) and more recently from the work done by Prof. Josef Bonnici who has made the case for a Voluntary Solidarity Fund in a recent study, calling for a moral response to the growing gap in inequality. Prof. Angus Deaton has written several books on the origins of inequality, and his work on consumption, poverty, and welfare won him a Nobel Prize in 2015. Other organisations like the IMF, the Bank of England and several high profile economists have called for an urgent response to this growing issue.

How the VSF International operates

The VSF International is a non-profit registered Charity in England and Wales, based in London. It collects and channels funds to established charities that are already managing programs in local communities. Five charities set in four different developed countries have already been researched and assessed, and are eligible for the VSF International grants and volunteering support.

The programmes we support fall into three broad categories: Those that aim to integrate the marginalised communities, those that educate through volunteers, grants and scholarships and those that provide interest-free loans and business mentorship to struggling entrepreneurs. The projects are selected based on organisations alignment with our principles and schools of thought as well as their full compliance with regulations and governance.

A network

The VSF international operates as a network of locally registered VSF charities in selected countries. Each local VSF will follow the same core operating rules, ethos and transparency standards. Within these parameters, each local VSF will be autonomous and have decision making authority to enable them to adapt to the specific social needs of their local communities. As such, we aim to build a community of holding hands by linking and supporting projects that can run independently.