Have you ever wondered how long the statue of the altar boy in his red cassock, shyly beseeching people to donate money, has been standing outside 227, Merchants Street, Valletta?

Generations of children will be familiar with the three-foot statue, which has been on the doorstep of the Youth Travel Circle (YTC) since it came to Malta in the late 1950s.

The statue was one of three brought from Spain by Don Alwiġ Micallef, the head of an organisation called Pro Sacerdotibus Christi, which aimed to collect money to help seminarians follow their vocation.

The figure in Merchants Street is the last of the three - the others having been placed in other localities - and has recently been restored after it was knocked over by an over-enthusiastic child. The restoration was carried out by Fr Gino Gauci, a University lecturer.

Fr Maurice Mifsud, who brings the statue out every day, said the coins deposited in the altar boy's box were pilfered several times over the years but he was still there exciting or frightening children as the case may be.

Interestingly, in the late 1980s, little plastic figures of the altar boy were made and placed in shops to raise funds. Many even believe he nods his head when they give an offering.

To this day, the funds are still being collected and still go to help seminarians.