It is never too late to stop, think about the people facing a tough time, and reach out. Malta has no shortage of charities built around passionate volunteers who give their time and energy to causes worth supporting, from caring for the sick, the poor and the lonely, to finding homes for abandoned animals and safeguarding Maltese heritage.

In this guide we round up a handful of these organisations, focusing on the ones that support people in need. You can browse the full register of voluntary organisations on the website of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, the body tasked with keeping the sector transparent and accountable.

Maltese Charities Supporting Children

Children are among the most vulnerable members of our society, and plenty of voluntary organisations work hard to support youngsters from difficult backgrounds or children who are unwell. Some are household names, others fly under the radar, but every one of them is doing remarkable work. Here are a few worth knowing.

bBrave

bBrave is Malta's first voluntary organisation set up to tackle bullying, with a focus on education and awareness. Its work now stretches beyond schools into workplaces and online spaces, and every November it leads national activities that get people talking about bullying and how to put a stop to it.

Blossom Foundation

The Blossom Foundation works to help children from challenging backgrounds grow and thrive. It was created to run projects that support youngsters facing difficulties in their lives, including free counselling services delivered in schools, so that help is close at hand exactly when a child needs it most.

Beating Hearts Malta

This non profit foundation supports parents whose children are born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD). Founded in 2011, Beating Hearts Malta also helps adults living with CHD, shares first hand experience and advice, raises awareness, and educates care professionals, employers, insurers and the wider public. Over the years it has gone further still, funding specialised medical equipment and research into heart conditions.

Puttinu Cares

Set up in 2002, Puttinu Cares began by offering holistic care to families with children fighting cancer, and its support now extends to adultstoo. The foundation provides free accommodation for Maltese patients and their families travelling to the United Kingdom for treatment, with apartments near the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton and a project close to Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London. Between 60 and 90 patients make that journey every month. In late 2025, plans were also announced for a new children's care centre in Mosta.

Ladybird Foundation

The Ladybird Foundation brings joy and relief to terminally, critically or seriously ill children in Malta. The funds it raises help these children and their families enjoy precious time together, whether that means a holiday or making a long held dream come true, from a trip to Disneyland to watching a favourite football team play live.

Karl Vella Foundation

The Karl Vella Foundation supports children whose families are coping with serious illness or loss. Aimed at youngsters between 5 and 17, it offers psychological support through qualified counsellors and psychologists, along with help with schoolwork and social activities, so children can hold on to a sense of normality during difficult times. Its programmes include The Wellness Pod and Because You Matter, the latter supporting families who need treatment abroad.

Dr Klown

Hospital can be a scary and confusing place for a child. That is where clown doctors come in. Dr Klown is a voluntary organisation that brings clown doctor services to Mater Dei Hospital, the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre and Gozo General Hospital. Its clowns are not medics but trained volunteers from all walks of life who use humour and play to lift the spirits of children in hospital.

Inspire Foundation

Inspire is built on the belief that everyone has the right to equality and inclusion, including people with disabilities. The foundation offers educational, therapeutic and leisure services across Malta and Gozo, supporting people with conditions ranging from Down Syndrome and autism to cerebral palsy. Since it was formed in 2009 it has helped tens of thousands of individuals and their families, very often at a heavily subsidised rate or completely free of charge.

Voluntary Organisations Helping Adults

Adults can be just as vulnerable and in need of support. From victims of crime to people grieving a loved one or living with a disability, several voluntary organisations raise awareness and offer a helping hand to people and their families.

Minus One

Minus One is a support group for the widowed. It offers comfort and practical advice to people whose husband or wife has passed away, with regular meetings throughout the week. The group also has a bereavement counsellor and a spiritual director on hand to offer voluntary support.

Friends of the Sick and the Elderly in Gozo

The Friends of the Sick and the Elderly in Gozo exists to assist the sick and the elderly across the island in every way it can, and to improve the home comforts that keep them safe and well. Much of this is achieved through its community care equipment loans service, which lends out the equipment families need to care for loved ones at home.

Victim Support Malta

Victim Support Malta helps people who have been affected by crime, including theft and burglary, domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment, discrimination and cybercrime. Its services include emotional support to help victims recover from trauma, clear information about criminal procedures, and practical assistance every step of the way.

Dar Merhba Bik

Dar Merhba Bik is Malta's longest running shelter for women and children who have survived domestic violence. Run by the Sisters of Charity, it offers a safe place to stay after leaving an abusive home, along with the guidance and support survivors need to rebuild their lives away from danger.

Dar tal-Providenza

Known to families across the islands, Dar tal-Providenza provides individualised residential services to people with disabilities in a warm, family like setting that helps them take a full part in society. The home in Siggiewi, together with its community houses around Malta, is home to around 115 residents aged between 14 and 80, and it also offers respite services to their families.

Hospice Malta

Hospice Malta is one of the island's most respected voluntary organisations, providing and promoting the highest standards of palliative care for people living with cancer, motor neurone disease and advanced respiratory, cardiac, renal and liver conditions, while supporting their families too. In January 2025 it opened St Michael Hospice in Santa Venera, Malta's first dedicated palliative care complex, adding an inpatient unit alongside its day therapy and community services.

Dar Guzeppa Debono

Based in Gozo, Dar Guzeppa Debono provides accommodation, support and professional help to single mothers, fathers and their families, working hand in hand with other agencies. It also runs seminars and pro life activities in schools and parishes, and works to ease the stigma that single and young parents can face.

These are just a handful of the many wonderful charities working hard to support vulnerable people across Malta and Gozo. You can find many more voluntary organisations, as well as charity shops, listed on yellow.com.mt.

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