Republic Day Honours | The full list

Companion

• Archbishop Emeritus Paul Cremona Kom

Paul Cremona was born in 1946 in Valletta. He joined the Dominican Order in 1962 and professed in 1963. He furthered his studies in philosophy and theology at the College of St Thomas Aquinas at the Dominican priory in Rabat and was ordained priest in 1969. Soon after, he was sent to pursue higher studies in Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Cremona graduated as Doctor in Theology in 1973 and served as Prior at the Priory of Our Lady of the Grotto at Rabat for several years. In 1981, he was elected to serve as Provincial of the Maltese Dominican Province, for two four-year terms, after which, he was appointed Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in Guardamangia and, in 2005, Parish Priest of Jesus of Nazareth in Sliema. For several years he was responsible for the formation of the Dominican novices and students at Rabat. Cremona has served the Archdiocese as the Archbishop’s delegate for Consecrated Life, Assistant Spiritual Director at the Seminary at Tal-Virtù and as member of the Presbyterian Council. He was also President of the Conference of Major Superiors between 1984 and 1987 and President of the Council of Formators in Religious Life between 1993 and 1995. On 26 January 2007 Paul Cremona was appointed Archbishop of Malta at St. John’s Cocathedral in Valletta until 2014.

Officer

• Philip Sciberras UoM

Born in Ħaż-Żebbuġ in 1945, Philip Sciberras served as a Judge for eight years and was also one of the founding members of the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju for the promotion of Maltese literature and culture in the sixties. He graduated as a lawyer in 1973 and was a Member of Parliament between 1979 and 1987 and, in 2002, he was appointed Judge. Judge Sciberras has dedicated his life to legal research and is also the author of several law related publications. Besides his political and professional career, he has written several poems which were published in Priżmi, Dawl fil-Persjani, Mandala and Mirja. He is currently a member of the Commission for the Holistic Reform of the Justice System and the Law Commission, as well as the presiding Chairman of the Embryo Protection Authority. Judge Emeritus Philip Sciberras is also Malta’s non-resident Ambassador to Lebanon.

Honorary Officers

• Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley UoM

Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley is an American diplomat who is the longest serving United States Ambassador to Malta. She has always shown a keen interest in the international, social and political fields with an emphasis on inclusion. After studying abroad in Israel, in 1978, she joined the US Peace Corps as a volunteer in Oman.

Abercrombie-Winstanley joined the US Diplomatic Corps in 1985 and was posted to Baghdad, Iraq. She also served at US Embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia, Cairo, Egypt and Tel Aviv, Israel.

Her Washington assignments included Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, Professional Staff Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Director for Legislative Affairs at the US National Security Council (NSC) and Director for the Arabian Peninsula also at the NSC. Additionally, she was Director of Middle East Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute and Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

Abercrombie-Winstanley was the first woman to lead a mission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between 2002 and 2005. She was nominated by US President Barack Obama to become the US Ambassador to Malta where she served from May 2012 until January 2016. Most recently she served at the US Department of Defense Cyber Command as Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander.

She is passionate about bringing new voices into the fields of foreign and security policy. She is an active volunteer mentor to young people, especially women and minorities and is a popular keynote speaker at Universities and international fora.

• Sandro Gozi UoM

Born in 1968, Sandro Gozi is an Italian politician and member of the Italian Parliament. After experiences in the academic and private sectors, Gozi joined Italy’s diplomatic service, after which, he started working with the European Commission in Brussels until 2005. He then had the opportunity to work in the European parliament where he became President of the Schengen Committee and Immigration. In 2013 Gozi was elected President of the Italian Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe Assembly and Vice President of Parliamentary Assembly at the Council of Europe.

Sandro Gozi is the Italian State Secretary for European Affairs and has worked closely with the Maltese Government to identify policies and priorities related to Malta’s Presidency of the European Council.

• Lord Mandelson UoM

Lord Mandelson was born in 1953 in the UK. He is the President of Policy Network, and in 2010, he became Chairperson of the strategic advisory firm Global Counsel. In 1992, he was elected Member of Parliament until he was appointed EU Commissioner for Trade up to 2008, later joining the British Cabinet. Mandelson was responsible for defining the commercial policy of the EU and has negotiated several bilateral agreements for Malta. Throughout his career in British and European politics Lord Mandelson has played a valuable role in supporting Malta’s endeavours to deepen its European vocation, build on its Commonwealth heritage and affirm its future as a trading nation and financial hub.

• Rachid Marif UoM

Rachid Marif was born in 1943, in Algeria and was the Algerian Ambassador in Malta between 2005 and 2016. He held various administrative positions, starting his career in 1973 when he was appointed Director for Production of SN.SEMPAC, a company specialising in the production and distribution of a variety of food items. After three years he became the Director for Industrial Security of the same company and then Commercial Director of the National Agency of Tourism (ATA), Director of SN.ALTOUR, Director General of the National Office for Congresses and Conferences and Director General of Enterprise, Club des Pins. In 1993, Marif was appointed Minister for Tourism and has been serving as Counsellor for the President of the Republic and Director General of Protocol since 1999.

Members

• Clifford Borg-Marks MOM

Clifford Borg-Marks has distinguished himself for his contribution to the development of political and economic relations between Malta and China. He started learning Chinese at Atlantic College, Wales, in 1973-75, and arrived in China in 1977. Borg-Marks then graduated from Peking University in January 1982, and subsequently studied law at the University of East Asia and at the University of The South Pacific. In 1982, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was posted to Beijing to open Malta’s Embassy. He served there as Chargé d’Affaires for four years, before serving as Acting High Commissioner in Canberra in 1986-87.

In 1990, Borg-Marks joined Baker & McKenzie in Hong Kong, and specialized in Chinese intellectual property (IP) law. He became a partner in 1995, and led a pioneering IP practice. He was a Guest Professor at China University of Political Science and Law for two years. His Maltese translations of Lu Xun’s A Call to Arms and Lao Zi, the Taoist classic, have been published in Malta, and he has also produced and directed award-winning documentaries.

Clifford Borg-Marks was appointed Malta’s Ambassador to China in 2013 where he gave his contribution to the strengthening of relationships between Malta and China and, from Beijing; he was concurrently accredited to Mongolia and the Philippines. He continues to serve as non- resident Ambassador to Thailand. In 2015, he returned to private practice in Hong Kong, and has re-joined Baker & McKenzie as a consultant in the firm’s IP Group.

• Maria Camilleri MOM

Born in Rabat in 1952, Maria Camilleri is renowned in the fields of education, media and politics. She graduated with a Degree (Hons) in Arts from the University of Malta and furthered her studies by obtaining a teacher’s warrant. Camilleri has taught in secondary and post-secondary schools and was Head of Primary State schools. Being an avid believer in social and environmental justice, Camilleri together with the Imam of the Maltese Muslim Community co-founded and was appointed Head of the Mariam Al Batool School in Paola for 17 years making the school unique as the only Muslim school worldwide run by a Christian Headmistress. She served as an untiring advocate for education as a powerful tool for intercultural dialogue and respect for diversity. Camilleri was instrumental in creating the first distance learning program in promoting the Maltese language and culture. She was also involved in politics holding various posts, amongst which, Vice-President of the Labour Party, Member of Parliament, first Maltese female to serve as Parliamentary Member of the Council of Europe and a member of the Commonwealth for Women Parliamentarians. Furthering her studies in diplomacy, today Maria Camilleri chairs the Transcultural Forum within The President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society and is Director Operations within ECLASLO. She is also member on the Board of Governors for the NDSP Fund.

• Fr Anthony Edmond Caruana MOM

Born in 1947 in Valletta, Fr Anthony Edmond Caruana is the Editorial Director of the Vatican Publishing House (Libreria Editrice Vaticana - LEV) whose fundamental aim is the publishing of the acts and documents of the Supreme Pontiff and the Holy See. Fr Caruana entered the Carmelite Order in 1964, after having finished his secondary education and he was ordained priest in 1972 following seven years of philosophical and theological studies at St Cyril College. He then left Malta to continue his studies at the University of St. Anselm in Rome. After five years Fr Caruana obtained a doctorate and licentiate in Liturgy specialising in Dogmatic Theology and furthered his studies at the Vatican Apostolic School where he attained a diploma in Librarianship and Latin Paleography. In 1988, Pope Saint John Paul II gave him the role of Chief Editor in the Editorial Office of the Vatican Publishing Library (LEV) and was appointed secretary of the Fondazione Latinitas (Opus Fundatum “Latinitas”) by the Pope himself, where he was in charge of the organisation of courses in Latin language, the publication of the quarterly review “Latinitas” as well as the Certamen Vaticanum (competition in Latin prose and poetry) organised by the Vatican. As Editorial Director, Fr Caruana participated in several International Book Fairs and, for the first time in 2015, with the Maltese Publishing House CAK in the Malta National Book fair and also contributed in favour of the Malta Community Chest fund in the Mostra Culturale Vaticana. He also helped Maltese writers to publish their works in Maltese, Italian and English with LEV. He flew with Pope Benedict XVI to Malta and published his speeches in an Italian-Maltese edition prepared by Prof. Joseph Axiaq. Pope Francis has also appointed Fr Anthony Edmond Caruana as Dean of the Minor Penitentiaries in the Patriarchal Basilica of St. Peter and he also serves as a professor of Liturgy and Anthropology at the Pontificia Facolta` Teologica Teresianum. Fr Caruana is also author of several articles and books including the recent publication entitled: Nuovo Dizionario di Mistica which will be translated in eight languages.

• David Mifsud MOM

Born in 1971, David Mifsud has distinguished himself for his accomplishments in the biological sciences particularly in the field of entomology and the preservation of honeybees. Mifsud graduated with B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Malta and pursued his studies in Basel, Switzerland, where he earned a PhD in Zoology in 2001. He works as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta and is the President of the Entomological Society of Malta and founder of the Association of Maltese Apiculturists. He dedicated most of his life for the study of insects. Mifsud has contributed in studies to better understand the decline in honeybee populations and was instrumental in coordinating meetings between European Beekeeping Associations and the European Commissioners responsible for Health which were fundamental for the banning of harmful insecticides to honeybees. He published more than 150 papers in scientific journals, mostly related to biodiversity studies in Malta. He provided detailed information on more than 1,800 living organisms of which almost 600 species were new records for the Maltese Islands. He described over 50 new species of insects to science. David Mifsud is also the editor of a peer-reviewed scientific journal entitled Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Malta, devoted to the study of insects in Malta. In the eight volumes published to date, he managed to get together 95 scientists from all over the world to work on Maltese insects. This work generated more than 130 publications providing information on more than 1,500 species of insects occurring in the Maltese archipelago.

• Karmen Mikallef Buhagiar (Posthumous) MOM

Karmen Mikallef Buhagiar was born in 1922 in Egypt to Maltese parents. She immigrated to the UK in the fifties where she lived. She used to correspond with the national poet Dun Karm for many years and, in the seventies, she encouraged Prof Oliver Friggieri to start work on the compilation of Dun Karm’s poems in Maltese which were published in 1980, mostly financed by her and she has also dedicated funding from her legacy to Din l-Art Helwa. Since 1971, she visited Malta during the month of October, to commemorate Dun Karm’s birth and death and to attend the conference held in the series “Fondazzjoni Karmen Micallef Buhagiar” which she founded and financed at the University.

• Godfrey A. Pirotta MOM

Born in Gzira in 1947, Godfrey Pirotta is renowned for his outstanding contribution in the fields of education and public policy both in Malta and abroad. He studied at the St Joseph Technical School and is a graduate of the Universities of Oxford (Social Studies), Reading (Political Studies), and Bath from where he obtained his Ph.D in Social sciences. In his teens he helped found the Gzira Civic Committee. In 1973, he co-founded the Istitut Malti għall-Edukazzjoni fil-Politika u l-Ekonomija and in 1980 he was the founder of the Consumer Protection Association serving as a member of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on consumer affairs. He joined the University of Malta in 1982 and currently is a professor in Government and Policy Studies.

Professor Pirotta is also a founding member of the Department of Public Policy and after nine years on its board in 2007, he was appointed Director of the Institute of Public Administration and Management. He is also a constant contributor to adult and civic education at several levels and has lectured at universities across the globe. He has authored three books on the history of Maltese governing institutions and other studies on public policy and public administration. In 1994 Godfrey Pirotta co-founded the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and helped pioneer the study of public policy in micro-states. He sits on the advisory board of international policy studies institutions and has been a strong contributor to Mediterranean affairs starting from the CSSE’s Mediterranean Process in 1979 to the present. In 2011 he established, in partnership with the International Policy Leadership Association (IPLI), The Malta Forum on Governance in the Mediterranean and currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Anna Lindt Foundation and serves as Malta’s non-resident Ambassador to the Czech Republic.

• Joseph Zammit Tabona MOM

Born in 1944, Joseph Zammit Tabona has served as the High Commissioner for Malta to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland between 2009 and 2013 and as Non-Resident Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland. On 1 August 2013, he was appointed by the Prime Minister as his Special Envoy for Investment Promotion.

Zammit Tabona qualified as Chartered Accountant in 1971 and a year after he became partner of the Malta Branch of Turquand Youngs & Co and ended his accountancy profession as co- senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in March 2000. During his long and distinguished career he occupied various other important positions, namely, Chairman of the Malta Accountancy Board between 2000 to 2009, Chairman of Malta Enterprise between 2003 and 2006, Chairman of the Malta Stock Exchange plc from 2006 to 2009, and Chairman of FinanceMalta between 2007 and 2009. Zammit Tabona was President of the Malta Federation of Industries between 1990 and 1991 and again from 2000 to 2003. He also served as member on different boards, amongst which, the Bank of Valletta plc, Malta Council for Science and Technology, HSBC Life Assurance Ltd and the Malta Institute of Accountants.

He is currently Chairman of the Valletta Cruise Port plc, Tigne Mall plc, Insignia Cards Ltd and serves on the Board of Klesch Group Limited and MedServ plc.

Honorary Members

• Stephan Drewes MOM

Stephan Drewes had a distinguished career as Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa Technik Malta (LTM) between September 2011 and August 2016. LTM is a subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik the world’s leading provider of aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul. The Malta facility was established in 2002 as a joint venture with Air Malta with strong support of the Maltese Government. The company provides its customers with line and base maintenance services for short-haul and long-haul aircraft. Today nearly 600 employees maintain the fleets of renowned airlines.

Drewes was pivotal in establishing the company in the market as a quality driven and competitive organisation. The resulting rapid expansion between 2011 and 2016 almost doubled the work performed and reinforced Malta’s position as a stronghold in the European Aviation Sector. With the expansion Lufthansa Technik Malta nowadays represents an investment of more than €70 million.

Prior to his position as CEO at LTM Stephan Drewes held the post of Vice President Engine Services at Lufthansa Technik AG for four years. He has now returned to Hamburg as Vice President Production Network Aircraft Base Maintenance to head all production facilities worldwide including Malta. He retains close links to the island and also holds the position of Chairman of the board of directors at Lufthansa Technik Malta.

• Alexander Piltz MOM

Alexander Piltz is a renowned entrepreneur who has established two companies in Malta that produce sachet packaging machines and precision tools for the high end machine tool industry.

He initially set up PILTZ Ltd in 1974, a company synonymous with quality engineering and precision tools and in 1975, he started the development and production of sachet machines as a second business line, to date delivering several hundred machines worldwide. PILTZ Machines Ltd, was then set up in Malta and has been operating since 1998, contributing to economic development and creating many employment opportunities. The Packaging machine program was taken over by the German Kummerfeldt family in 2015 who on January 1st, 2016 established PiltzMLT Ltd Malta which was specifically set up to take over the packaging machine business plus the manufacturing of tailor made lighting systems.

Alexander Piltz is still carrying on the production of precision tools in PILTZ Ltd. with a clientele coming from optical and fine mechanical industries and automotive sub-suppliers.

Midalja Għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika

• Anthony Aquilina (Posthumous) MQR

Born in 1906 in Zebbug, Major Anthony Aquilina is renowned for being one of the most important composers of Maltese festive band marches. He joined the army at a young age and then proceeded to England to study music at the prestigious Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall, Twickenham. On his return to Malta after graduation, he joined the Royal Malta Artillery as bandmaster and, soon after, became regimental bandmaster. Aquilina retired as a major and then joined Rediffusion (Malta) Ltd serving as Network Director until 1972. Known to enthusiasts simply as “il-Maġġur”, the Major, he composed more than 50 band marches which are still today among the most popular, not only by local brass bands but also by those formed by Maltese migrants abroad. He was very closely associated with the Valletta’s King’s Own Band and the Duke of Connaught’s’ Own Band of Birkirkara, where he remained for eleven years, and was Honorary President of the Banda Sant’ Antnin of Birkirkara. Many of his marches are nowadays featured on several cassettes and CDs.

• Esther Azzopardi MQR

Born in 1981, Esther Azzopardi is renowned for being the first Maltese woman to be appointed as a FIFA referee. She has locally been an elite referee for 6 seasons having officiated more than 50 Premier League Games. In 2007, she was promoted by FIFA and started her international career and in 2016, she was selected by UEFA to referee several important matches. These included the qualifying matches for the Women’s Euro 2017 between France and Greece, and The Republic of Ireland and Portugal. The latest and most prestigious appointment for Azzopardi was the Women’s World Cup U17 in Jordan in October 2016.

• Peter Paul Ciantar MQR

Born in 1950 in Żebbuġ, Peter Paul Ciantar is a broadcaster, composer and musician, ex-music teacher, lecturer and writer of several articles in Maltese newspapers. At twenty years of age, he graduated with a degree in music from the London College of Music and started his career in broadcasting on Rediffusion (Malta) with programs for children. He was then employed as producer with Xandir Malta where he presented several radio programs focusing mainly on the

history of Malta, opera music and ancient Maltese traditions. For many years, he was also coordinator of radio programs with PBS. Aside from his career as a broadcaster, Peter Paul Ciantar was also a music teacher at the Johann Strauss School of Music. Nowadays he still gives lectures on music appreciation to members of the University of the Third Age.

For many years he was involved in various committees, particularly in the cultural field. He was also a journalist for a local newspaper as well as frequently a board member in jury panels during local and foreign festivals. Currently he is also member of the National Feasts Committee.

As a composer, Peter Paul Ciantar wrote numerous marches for the King’s Own Band and for other bands in various villages. He also composed a number of tunes for some of his own radio programmes and also won several music competitions organised by the Performing Rights Society of London.

• Nicolina Farrugia MQR

Nicolina Farrugia qualified as State Registered Nurse in 1968. Her nursing career spans over 36 years. She occupied the post of Matron at the Isolation Hospital, Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, The Primary Health Care and Community Services, and St Luke’s/Karen Grech Hospital. She was awarded Council of Europe scholarships in 1970 and in 1984, and received specialist nurse training in England, in Infectious Diseases, and HIV/AIDS. She then followed post graduate management courses with the University of Malta, Bocconi, and the University of Birmingham.

Farrugia served as Chairperson and member of departmental boards including the Malta Hospice Movement, and the Bioethics Consultative Committee. She converted the former British Sick Bay at Luqa, later Santa Marija Hospital, into an Isolation Unit and in the 1981 and 1983 aircraft hijacks, she prepared the Unit, to receive and treat the passengers in those incidents. In the 1985 Egypt Air Hijack she was life threatened with a weapon by one of the hijackers.

Nicolina Farrugia was also involved in the planning and opening of the Child Development and Assessment Unit, which included the first nursery to accommodate the children of nurses and midwives, needed to address staff shortage and was the one responsible for the interviewing and recruiting of nurses from the UK in an effort to address this problem.

In May 1996, she was appointed as the first Director Nursing Services and after she retired she graduated with a BA and Masters in Theology. She currently serves at the Metropolitan Tribunal of Malta.

• Karl Izzo MQR

Karl Izzo was born on 26 February of 1969 and started playing Waterpolo at the age of 12 years. In 1985 he formed part of Junior National Teams and later part of Senior National teams, participating in various tournaments abroad. He started his coaching career in 2001 with St Julian’s ASC and then joined the Neptunes Club attaining various victories. In 2013 Izzo was appointed National Team Head Coach achieving numerous successes under his guidance and that same year the National Team qualified for the semi-finals of European Championship qualifications. Karl Izzo won for three consecutive years the title of Best Coach and in 2015 he was appointed Director of the World Waterpolo coaches Association.

• Christopher Micallef MQR

Christopher Micallef was born in 1967 in Attard. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta, and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Henley Management College. Micallef is the first Maltese, who managed to obtain his doctorate degree in social sciences from the University of Leicester.

His research on the Mnajdra and Tal-Qadi temples was published in scientific journals. It established that the Mnajdra lower temple is aligned towards the different phases of the moon, identified the use of a 16-month prehistoric calendar and verified the possible use of an ancient measurement to construct the temple. This besides the identification of visible stars, formed from small cup-marks carved on a standing stone at Mnajdra.

Micallef’s research conducted on the Tal-Qadi stone suggests that the number of days for the rising or setting of different moon phases were being recorded by megalithic man. His research also shows that the Tal-Qadi temple main passage is aligned to the sun and the different phases of the moon. His discoveries have been mentioned in books and in scientific journals.

Christopher Micallef is currently the Department Manager (People Management) at Jobsplus.

• Freddie Portelli MQR

Freddie Portelli was born in St. Paul’s Bay in 1944. He has distinguished himself as a Maltese singer, songwriter and composer whose career has spanned over 55 years.

Portelli formed the renowned Malta Bums and Black Train composing numerous hit records on Vinyl including the self-penned Viva Malta which was Radio aired internationally. With his bands he toured several countries namely Germany, London, the United States and Canada, making numerous performances for Maltese communities. After sixteen years with Black Train, he continued his career as solo artist releasing various albums and hit singles.

Apart from his vast musical career, Freddie Portelli was also an international Water polo player. He has won various championships with Sirens, Neptunes and Valletta and, in 1964 he won, together with his team, the International Independence Cup for Malta.

Freddie Portelli is synonymous with Maltese music and rock’n roll in Malta.

• Alison White MQR

Born in 1956, Alison White’s career in dance spans over 50 years and she has distinguished herself in this flair. She joined Ballet Bentyber in the 70’s and has toured internationally working with distinct choreographers like Claudette Walker and Lindsay Dolan. She is director of the Alison White Dance Studio and is sole representative for the British Theatre Dance Association in Malta. She has worked in numerous prestigious national committee positions and has been involved in the Dance Council Malta for over 19 years of which she was president for the past eight years during which she helped the council become part of the international arena. In 2014 Alison was appointed chairperson of ŻfinMalta, which is Malta’s National Contemporary Ensemble. She was the choreographer for numerous major stage, theatre and TV productions namely Ġensna, Aida, Rocky Horror, Seussical, Webber tribute, Eurovision and the Pantomime of the Malta Amateur Dramatic Club. In 2015 she was the head choreographer for the CHOGM opening ceremony. For the past 30 years she was the official dance instructor for the Guardian Angel Resource Centre and has pioneered the integration of dancers with special needs into mainstream training and performance. Alison White is also involved in the training programme for students with disabilities in the organisation Opening Doors.

• The Malta Hospice Movement MQR

Founded in 1989, The Malta Hospice Movement is a non-profit organisation providing free palliative care services to hundreds of patients suffering from various diseases and also giving support to families going through their bereavement process. The services offered are intended to address the needs of patients in a holistic manner through individualized care plans. These are delivered through a multi-professional team of doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologist, physiotherapists, complementary therapist and chaplain, trained in palliative care to mitigate the physical, psychological, social and spiritual concerns as patients and their families alike find themselves facing the challenging problems of a serious illness. The provision of specialised equipment, respite care services, hospital support and day therapy services help to ameliorate the quality of life of the patient. The services are also supported by the much needed back-up of volunteers.

The Malta Hospice Movement also aims to promote a culture of palliative care through education of professionals and the general public. This comprehensive approach supports patients to remain active and live a full life in a dignified manner within the community.

• The Franciscan Sisters Of The Heart Of Jesus (London) MQR

The Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus have established a community in London in 1960 for the purpose of welcoming people who are suffering from an illness and their accompanying family members, the former being sent from Malta to undergo special treatment in the various hospitals in London and its outskirts. They are committed in assisting patients and their families to meet their moral and spiritual needs, aiming at alleviating some of the sadness and pain in such difficult moments. These dedicated sisters also visit patients who are kept in hospitals to give them comfort, especially those who are coping with missing all their loved ones at home.

Midalja Għall-Qadi Tar-Repubblika On An Honorary Basis

• Alan Ralph Curry MQR

Born in 1959 in the UK, Alan Ralph Curry has played a key role in the setting up of the Lifecycle Challenge and, in 1999, the successive LifeCycle Foundation with the sole objective of helping patients with renal problems. Curry has been living in Malta for the past 23 years and is the founding member of the LifeCycle Organisation. Since its inception it has raised a considerable amount of donations in aid of the Renal Unit at Mater Dei Hospital and gaining unprecedented awareness for the treatment of renal patients. The LifeCycle Challenge is an endurance event held annually where dedicated enthusiasts cycle for long distances through several countries in a period of 10 days.

Alan Ralph Curry is fully committed to the cause and has predominantly been the event organizer where he personally trains volunteers who turn out each year to cycle for charity.