At the end of the 53-hour BOV Marigold Volleyball Marathon 2018 at midnight of Sunday July 1st, it was all smiles, champagne showers and gratitude; gratitude towards 40 or so young male and female players, coaches, referees, score keepers, medical doctors, physiotherapists and nurses, who decided to challenge the heat of the day and the stillness of the night and play 53 hours of non-stop Volleyball in aid of Id-Dar tal-Providenza.

Their generosity in time and effort was matched by that of the Maltese people in donations to the tune €651,905 which included also the sum of €335,291 collected during a special edition of Xarabank which was held on Friday 8 June.

The Marathon had its official kick-off Friday evening by the President of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca who also presented a donation from the Malta Community Chest Fund.

During the course of the three days, the players and organizers had time to meet the Prime Minister, Dr Joseph Muscat and Mrs Michelle Muscat, the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Adrian Delia, H.G. Archbishop Emeritus Mgr. Paul Cremona, Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, other members of Parliament and MEPs.  All of them also spent some time answering the phones tied to the donations.

In the evenings, the Volleyball Marathon was broadcast ‘live’ on TVM, TVM2, ONE TV, NET TV.

At the end of the Marathon Fr Martin Micallef Director of Id-Dar tal-Providenza, thanked the Organising Committee, players, volunteers, sponsors and all those who made their donation.