Astrid Vella nominated as Malta NGO volunteer of the year – Public urged to vote
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Astrid Vella, the coordinator of the environmental NGO Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA), who was recently awarded the SOS Malta Award for Volunteering 2008, has been nominated as the Malta NGO volunteer of the year, in the European award recognizing the work of NGO volunteers.
The general public are being strongly urged to cast their vote for Astrid Vella on the European award website located at http://www.benevolat.eu/en/vote.php.
Astrid has worked indefatigably and fearlessly to protect Malta and Gozo’s heritage and environment, often around the clock, driven by concern about the uncontrolled urban and rural over-development of the past 50 years which has made parts of the island unrecognisable and undermined the quality of life of the communities.
Along with heritage protection, she has immersed herself just as actively in issues of land use and planning development, helping residents’ groups all over Malta and Gozo who are facing issues of overdevelopment and loss of residents’ rights, from traffic congestion and toxic emissions to rights of access to public beaches and public gardens.
Astrid leads media-driven public awareness campaigns and is relentless in demanding that action be taken on every front. Alternative energy and climate change provisions, as well as measures to protect Malta and Gozo’s scant water resources, are all priority issues.
As a result of the pressure exerted by Astrid Vella and her group, beautiful old buildings have been saved from demolition and development blocked at Malta’s most beautiful, unspoilt beach. Planning regulations are being changed and planning authorities restructured. Most importantly, the authorities are now responding to the public and becoming more sensitive to the needs of communities. For the first time ever, Astrid has made the voice of civil society heard in a non-political way to the benefit of the quality of life and health of the Maltese residents.
By voting for Astrid at http://www.benevolat.eu/en/vote.php you will help your environment to become healthier and more beautiful.
Photo above shows the recent SOS Malta Award ceremony, with the Prime Minister, Dr Lawrence Gonzi, presented Ms Vella with a bronze trophy designed by sculptor Damien Darmanin.
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No one deserves this award more than Astrid Vella does. Whilst most people are asleep in their beds Astrid is working hard writing press releases and investigating development applications. She does this because she has a great love for her country, for its environment and for its architectural heritage.
Malta is a small country compared to the other countries represented in this European award and therefore every single vote will count. I urge every Maltese and Gozitan citizen to take 10 seconds and cast their vote. This is a thank you to Astrid for all the good work she does and a declaration of pride in the country of Malta. Good luck Astrid.
Astrid has been a real helper for our cause to save our beautiful beach Hondoq .
The turning point regards the invironment was when she organized The Save Gozo Protest which was a huge success.
We are including the link http://www.benevolat.eu/en/vote.php to vote for Astrid. It will only take a minute of your time and it is also very quick by simply clicking on Astrid’s name in the drop-down menu to the right of the page.
This is a very small gesture on our part to show our gratitude for what Astrid has achieved over the last couple of years. We know for a fact that she literally works day and night to save what is left of the environment and is especially very close with us in our crusade to save Hondoq
PLEASE also forward this article with link to as many people as possible because she definitely deserves this award.
Many thanks,
Paul
I have known Astrid Vella for over a year now and can only say that she is the most incredible person that I have met on these islands! She is so devoted to Malta and Gozo and works so hard to improve and preserve this group of islands it is just amazing – she puts us all to shame! One could only wish that more people followed her example!
Astrid certainly deserves to win this award and I hope that you will all vote for her!
Astrid, we will be holding thumbs, and I would like to thank you so much for all the work you have done to make Malta and Gozo a better place to live and a better place for future generations.
Thank you
Lesley and Burkhardt