Malta’s NowWeMOVE 2016-2017 campaign will be launched with an Open Day at the National Swimming pool complex in Tal-Qroqq on 1 May. An extensive programme has been prepared for this activity, including swimming sessions, canoe polo and water polo. SportMalta’s CEO, Mark Cutajar said this was a good opportunity for SportMalta to open its doors to everyone, and promote social inclusion. All funds raised will go to the Marigold Foundation.

 

Mark Cutajar listed other activities that will be organised as part of the NowWeMOVE campaign, including No Elevators Day. Students and various associations will participate.

 

NowWeMOVE is an initiative of ISCA whose aim is to move 100 million European citizens by 2020. Jacob Schouenborg, ISCA’s General Secretary, was present for the launch and stated that Malta’s ongoing involvement in the campaign was a good example for other countries.

 

Through an agreement with ISCA, the Coca-Cola Foundation will fund Malta’s NowWeMOVE activities from 2016-2017. At the launch, Brian Galea, General Manager of General Soft Drinks, said:

 

“I am delighted to be here today for the launch of the two-year NowWeMOVE programme, which is funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation and supported by the Coca-Cola System in Malta, comprised of The Coca-Cola Company and GSD Marketing Limited. We recognise that the sustainability of our business is dependent on the sustainability of the communities in which we operate. From our perspective, we operate in societies, not markets. That is the reason we are highly supportive of local community programmes such as NowWeMOVE, which promote greater participation in sports and physical activity among people of all ages in Malta.”

SportMalta Chairman, Luciano Busuttil, said SportMalta felt the need to give due importance to physical activity and that this was its motivation to join ISCA in promoting the NowWeMOVE campaign. He said that besides offering more initiatives to attract the public, SportMalta had to be the driving force to change the mentality of inactivity of the Maltese population, which ranked as the second-least active in Europe in the last Eurobarometer survey. He stressed that more activities for school students were being organised through the Sport Promotion Unit (SPU).

The Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport, Chris Agius, said in the coming weeks SportMalta would start work on three projects - a new basketball pavilion, an indoor pool, and work at the Marsa Sports Ground. SportMalta would also officially inaugurate three projects that were now completed – a Judo pavilion, an athletics warm-up facility in Marsa and a shooting range tent in Gozo.