Environment NGO Friends of the Earth Malta has raised €8,000 so far for a fund to breathe new life into an old building which once housed a bakery on Comino.

The fund-raising campaign, which is being hosted on the crowdfunding platform Zaar, aims to raise €30,000 by the end of this month.

The old oven at the Comino bakery.The old oven at the Comino bakery.

The bakery, located close to Santa Marija bay, once provided bread for Comino’s resident community but fell into disrepair as the population dwindled to nothing.

The environmental organisation wants to turn the building into an interpretation centre about the island and a not-for-profit space for environmental education, workshops and nature walks.

The idea was sparked by the organisation’s director, Martin Galea De Giovanni who came across the old bakery while camping on the island some years ago.

"‘We’re so pleased to find support from the general public and local businesses to help get this project started. Over the past 38 years as an organisation, we’ve learned that the community lies at the heart of everything we do. And, rooted in the bakery’s history is a strong link with the local farming community who used to live on Comino.’ 

The building’s natural surrounding area of over 14,000m2, also falls under FoEM’s responsibility and will remain entirely untouched. The building itself features limestone arches, wooden beams and an intact old oven - one of very few still in existence.

One of the rooms whose ceiling has collapsed.One of the rooms whose ceiling has collapsed.

But parts of the building have suffered from decades of neglect. Ceilings have caved in, windows and doors are missing, and it has suffered acts of vandalism. The structure will be restored using original material from the collapsed sections wherever possible and other second-hand materials.

The organisation has been in touch with a number of people who can recall  the bakery and the small population who enjoyed Comino during the early 20th century.’ 

To donate, learn more about the project or share the story please click the following link: http://www.foemalta.org/cominozaar  

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