Childhood adversaries on the football pitch, Claudio Camilleri and Daniel Abela have teamed up to run a mind-numbing 500 laps around the Marsa track to fund psychological help for children under the care of Fondazzjoni Sebħ.

A hospitality consultant, Camilleri, 46, will be attempting to run 200km in 35 hours while philanthropist and businessman, Abela, 53, will be testing his endurance and seeing what distance he can cover to raise enough money for The Children in Need Foundation to fund regular therapy sessions for each child living at the foundation's homes.

Titled 1Run 1Childhood, this event is being held between April 29 and 30 at The Matthew Micallef St John Athletics Stadium, Marsa, and the goal is to entice companies and people to contribute generously to see this project through for the next three years.

This feat follows on several challenges Abela and Camilleri embarked upon for a worthy cause.

In 2020, Camilleri and Patrick Tabone did the 1Run 1Race which saw them running 190km along the rugged coastline between Malta and Gozo, raising more than €50,000 to fund young refugees’ access to education.

And some years back, Abela, together with Rueben Vassallo and Neville Calleja, had rowed over 600km from Sardinia to Malta raising in excess of €130,000 for an educational centre for children with learning disabilities and to fund trips to Disneyland Paris for families of terminally ill children.

When Camilleri and Abela joined forces and approached Fondazzjoni Sebħ, one of the greatest gaps jointly identified was the inconsistent provision of therapy to help the children with their emotional wellbeing and to cope with the daily challenges they faced following traumatic experiences. 

Fondazzjoni Sebħ — an NGO that runs seven apartments in four residential homes, a shelter for women escaping violence and their children, and a community social work service — engages 80 workers to provide round-the-clock support for 41 children, aged three to 18 and beyond, as well as mothers and their children escaping violence. 

While state agencies provide therapy, resources are often stretched making it impossible to offer immediate service when it is requested by the residents or upon admission of residents within one of the homes. 

Fondazzjoni Sebħ director Yvonne Mallia said: “Sometimes, children need therapy and need it now and we’re not in a position to provide this support structure. We don’t decide when they need to confide in a therapist and this event will enable us to offer our children consistent assistance for their mental wellbeing.” 

She said these kids have had their childhood marred by a myriad of issues, from neglect to parents with addictions, or being exposed to prostitution and pornography and this ultramarathon hopes to raise enough funds to make a difference.

Born of the two friends’ desire to shine a spotlight on these children’s therapeutic needs, the end goal is to enable Fondazzjoni Sebħ to set up an inbuilt system of therapeutic services.

Through the donations collected, The Children in Need Foundation will employ a team of psychotherapists, and other therapists, that will form a structure to provide a holistic and consistent approach for Fondazzjoni Sebħ to offer this service for at least three years. 

The total investment required for the 41 children in children's homes, as well as those in the shelter and within the community is estimated at €150,000 per annum. The service will also be supporting and guiding staff working directly with the children.

Camilleri says: “One of the hardest parts is the idea of running around in a circle 500 times, but while this mental struggle will be over in a day and a half, these kids have to live a life scarred by violence and loss — the protagonists of this initiative are the children and the staff at Fondazzjoni Sebħ.”

Abela adds: “Every child deserves a childhood, protected from danger and cared for. It is our responsibility as adults to ensure this and since not all children are as lucky, we are doing our best to offer their carers the best possible tools to help them cope and come to terms with their life realities.”

The majority of children, who were victims of the behaviour of others, were under a care order or at risk of harm or abuse and had to be removed from their family home. In other situations, they had to flee from their home together with their mother because of an abusive situation they were living in.

Corporations or individuals wishing to support 1Run 1Childhood can visit here. All the money collected will go towards offering each child weekly psychotherapy sessions