A small number of members of Parliament yesterday burnt off the extra kilos gained during the festive season as they trudged around the St Aloysius College football pitch in Birkirkara in aid of charity.

The RTK4Charity activities in aid of Id-Dar tal-Providenza kicked off yesterday afternoon with a seven-a-side football tournament at the Jesuit-run college.

Four teams, made up of MPs and officials of the General Workers’ Union, Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin and the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions, graced the synthetic turf for four 25-minute matches.

The MPs were David Agius and Charlo Bonnici from the Nationalist Party and Marlene Pullicino, Chris Agius, Carmelo Abela and Gino Cauchi from the Labour Party.

The 16th edition of the fund-raising event will reach its climax on Sunday, New Year’s Day, when the residential home for the handicapped will open for the publicat 9 a.m.

About 600 people will be lending a helping hand in the event, which will also be broadcast live on all TV stations.

A park-and-ride service will be provided from the Siġġiewi parish square and the old runway in Siġġiewi from 2 p.m.

Donations will be received at Id-Dar tal-Providenza and at RTK radio studios in Blata l-Bajda, via telephone on 5160 2012 for a €10 donation, 5170 2013 for €15 and 5180 2014 for €25, via SMS on 5061 8922 for a donation of €7 donation or online at www.rtk4charity.org from today.

Id-Dar tal-Providenza, set up in 1965 by the late Mgr Mikiel Azzopardi, houses 100 people with mental and physical disabilities on a permanent basis and provides respite services to 50 others.

The home needs €10,000 to operate every day or €3.5 million a year.

A record €668,217 was raised last year.

One of the projects Id-Dar tal-Providenza will be working on this year is setting up a semi-independent residence for five people in Qawra.