The trustees of Eden Foundation and Razzett tal-Ħbiberija will on Monday be presented with the findings of a working group set up to decide whether the two entities should merge.
Auditors Deloitte and Touche and two law firms will explain the legal and financial implications to the trustees, who will have one week to decide the future of the non-profit charities.
Philip Rizzo, Eden's board of trustees' executive secretary, said he was extremely encouraged by the positive feedback: "I believe the merger will go through."
This move follows the Memorandum of Understanding signed two months ago to explore the potential of merging for the benefit of the disabled children they help.
The MOU, pushed forward by three of the five members of Eden's board of trustees without the consent of its president, Bro. Martin Borg, had irked founder Josie Muscat who believed it betrayed all Eden stood for.
Bro. Martin said yesterday the remaining board members were not exactly against the merger. However, they had been upset with the way Eden had been "hijacked".
Dr Muscat has since been approached by a number of disgruntled parents, who chose him as the chairman of an ad hoc committee to voice their concerns.
The committee met for the first time last week and Dr Muscat said he will be presenting a petition to Eden's board of trustees this week in a bid to "retain the NGOs identity, as a stalwart of education for disabled children".
Dr Muscat, Eden's founder who stepped down last year to run the political party Azzjoni Nazzjonali, would not divulge more details, adding only that there were some 50 people who attended the meeting, and he was eager to settle things amicably.
The idea to merge Eden and Razzett materialised because they share similar principles and ideals in the provision of services to the same 350 clients. Eden provides education to children with learning difficulties while Razzett focuses on their therapeutic well-being, so a working group was formed to study the potential of uniting the efforts and synergies of both organisations.
Nathan Farrugia, Razzett's CEO, said when contacted that since news of the proposed merger first appeared in The Times the feedback from the majority of parents had been in favour of the move.
"The aim behind this move is to provide a one-stop-service for the same clients.
The overriding priority is the children's welfare, and if we conclude, after Monday's presentation, that the value of the service is not enhanced, then it will not be worth merging," he said, when contacted.
"However, the feeling is that there's a lot of scope to work together," he said, adding that the aim was to share the resources and spend the money on the children instead of competing against each other to raise funds.
"The future is now in the hands of the boards of trustees."