Sixty-six members of staff from CareMalta celebrated the company’s silver anniversary in style by running or walking the Vodafone Malta Marathon last Sunday.

The team included group chairman Nazzareno Vassallo, group CEO, Pio Vassallo and CareMalta CEO Natalie Briffa Farrugia, among other directors, managers and employees who took up what was aptly called the #zerototwentyfive. The challenge’s aim was to symbolise the company’s 25-year journey in this sector, which started in 1993.

For the past four months, the group has been undergoing intensive training sponsored by CareMalta, led by professional coaches from the I & J fitness team.

Among those who ran the half-marathon were CareMalta’s finance director James Sciriha, an avid runner and member of Mellieha AC who placed 20th overall and 10th among the Maltese participants. Twenty-seven participants opted to run, while 39 did the walkathon.

Ms Briffa Farrugia said: “The aim of this challenge was not only to promote physical activity as part of our belief to promote a healthy lifestyle. We wanted this to symbolise CareMalta’s 25-year journey in the elderly sector. Experience has shown that we could only get to the point we are at through resilience, dedication, ambition and team work.”

More initiatives have been planned to mark this anniversary. These include the launch of ICare – a service excellence programme for employees, the Nazzereno Vassallo Award for elderly care in the community, the inauguration of the recently refurbished Villa Messina, culiminating in a big celebration at Casa Arkati, the company’s first home, in August.