Eden and Razzett to merge

The Eden Foundation and Razzett tal-Ħbiberija, two charities that cater for the disabled, have agreed to merge, ending weeks of speculation and resistance from Eden's founder Josie Muscat.

The move, even if hailed by many, has led to the resignation of Eden's board president, Bro. Martin Borg, who took the helm from Dr Muscat last year, and a trustee, Joe Bugeja.

In a joint letter they sent to the board yesterday, Bro. Martin and Dr Bugeja said the direction the board was taking prevented them from continuing to work in an effective manner within the foundation.

"In peace with our conscience, and with loyalty towards the statute, which we always defended with honesty towards the foundation's beneficiaries, we are resigning with immediate effect," they wrote.

When contacted, Dr Muscat, who from the outset had felt betrayed by the trustees favouring the merger, would only say: "I tried my best but I failed... Now that this is a reality, I wish them good luck for the benefit of the children".

The idea of a merger was raised in August when the two charities began exploring the potential of coming together because they shared similar principles and ideals in the provision of services to the same 350 clients - Eden provides education to children with learning difficulties and Razzett focuses on their therapeutic wellbeing.

On November 10, auditors Deloitte and Touche and two law firms explained the legal and financial implications to the trustees of both sides. The reports they drew up established there were no reasons impeding the merger from a financial or legal perspective.

The trustees of both sides yesterday finally concluded the evaluation process and agreed to move towards setting up a new foundation to manage the operations and services of the two charities.

The new venture will operate under one new name. So far, the proposal was to brand the new organisation Inspire - Inclusive Services Promoting Independence at Razzett and Eden, but this has not been finalised.

The new entity will operate through the existing facilities of the two charities under the direction of a joint board of trustees made up equally of representatives from Eden and Razzett.

The process, which will see the two charities develop their operations into a joint effort, is expected to take a number of months, with the transition team of expert senior managers appointed by the trustees steering the operations.

Razzett's CEO Nathan Farrugia, who is heading the transition, said the process was a long one that had required deep evaluation and diligent examination.

"We are happy to have invested this time because we now feel confident that the future for these two charities will be improved together. We ask the parents, staff and other stakeholders to join us and help us make this work for the good of our beneficiaries," he said.

The trustees will be setting up a series of fora for stakeholders to gain insight into the process and to give an opportunity to provide valuable feedback on the set-up of the new organisation.

Parents, beneficiaries, staff, non-governmental organisations, government ministries and departments and also regular donors and suppliers will be consulted to ensure their views were considered when developing the organisation's new structure.

"We will be ensuring the voice of the parents is heard. We have continuously professed that the reasons for uniting was to enhance service delivery, so we must actively encourage constructive criticism from the current beneficiaries and their families," Mr Farrugia said.

Rita Micallef, Eden's acting general manager, said the aim was to ensure other important stakeholders were given a voice so that the new organisation succeeded in its mission and the quality of the services they previously offered as separate organisations were enhanced.

Initial plans show that the existing services will continue to be provided without any downsizing in service delivery staff. A more complete outlook on the operations and services of the new organisation will emerge over the coming months.