The President’s solidarity fun made a return, albeit in different format, on Sunday after having been cancelled last year because of COVID-19. 

Instead of a large gathering, which typically saw thousands of people running and walking along four routes converging on Valletta, smaller walks were held around 58 different localities in Malta and Gozo. 

A spokesperson for the Office of the President said that despite the scaled-down nature of the event, there had been an “encouraging response” from the public, but somehow he did not give numbers. 

A heartfelt THANK YOU for having enthusiastically taken part in The President's Solidarity Fun Run 2021 in aid of The #Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation - a day of #solidarity and #unity in our towns and villages. pic.twitter.com/9BzdRg4xy4

— President of Malta (@presidentmt) November 21, 2021

“As a rule, we don’t give out numbers for such events, but we had a very encouraging response and I can say we’ve exceeded our target of having 100 participants per locality,” he said. But the office of the President later said that some 7,000 had participated.

“They might not be an exact hundred in every locality, but with the total number of participants, we’ve reached the average of having 100 per locality.”

Archbishop Charles Scicluna celebrates mass in Żejtun where President George Vella and several members of Parliament were in attendance ahead of the event. Photo: Office of the President

Asked whether the pandemic had played a part in deterring people from participating, the spokesperson said he did not think so. 

“Overall I don’t think COVID held people back, actually I would say more people applied than we actually hoped for,” he said. 

“We cannot really compare this year’s edition to previous ones. Whereas we would typically see a big spectacle and a river of people pouring into Valletta in unity, it’s not logistically possible to offer something like that. We cannot gather in a big group at Valletta's St George’s Square to have a celebration.” 

“In the context of this being the closest we can get to holding the event and not being able to offer spectacle, we are very grateful that people still came along to participate.”

In a show of solidarity, after celebrating mass at the parish church of St Catherine in Żejtun, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, President George Vella, Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech completed a walk around the village together. 

Participants were expected to donate €10 each to raise funds for L-Istrina, and the spokesman said the total collected would be announced when L-Istrina is held on Boxing Day. 

In the afternoon President Vella met the mayors of the participating localities at San Anton Palace, where they received a memento of the event on behalf of all the participants.