Fourteen organisations were yesterday presented with Lm732,449 - most of the proceeds raised by the charity marathon TV programme L-Istrina 2004 - in the presence of the President and Mrs Edward Fenech Adami.

The programme had collected Lm1,270,403 but Lm477,268 had been donated to the Tsunami Fund earlier in the year and expenses for the programme's production amounted to Lm60,686. The remaining Lm732,449 were distributed to the Malta Community Chest Fund (Lm366,224); the Malta Cancer Foundation (Lm91,556); the Oasi Foundation, the Little Sisters of the Poor, Dar il-Kaptan, Fondazzjoni Arka and St Rita Home (Lm36,623 each); the Salesians of Don Bosco (Lm21,973); Equal Partners, the Richmond Foundation and the Eden Foundation (Lm18,311 each); the Jesuit Refugee Service (Lm7,324); the Society for the Protection and Care of Animals and Reaching Out (Lm3,662 each).

President Fenech Adami thanked Public Broadcasting Services for its support and producers Where's Everybody? for their enthusiasm and courage in organising the annual programme. He also thanked Maltacom and television stations who offered air time for free. The Maltese people, the President said, held dear the values of solidarity. In his report L-Istrina chairman Andrew Agius Muscat said some 230 individuals offered their time voluntarily before and during the last programme.

In a statement, Bank of Valletta said that following last year's success, it was again launching the BoV L-Istrina Piggy Bank Campaign 2005 together with the team from L-Istrina.

Two piggy banks will be placed in each classroom in primary and secondary schools in Malta and Gozo, amounting to nearly 7,000. They will be collected from the schools in December and the amount of funds raised announced during the BoV L-Istrina 2005 on TVM on Boxing Day.

Last year, schoolchildren collected over Lm12,000. Bank of Valletta pledged to top up the funds collected by the schoolchildren by Lm10,000.