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42 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2013 HSBC Malta employees to visit WaterAid projects in Ghana Malta among first in HSBC group countries to contribute to WaterAid projects A group of six HSBC Malta volunteers will soon be visiting projects in Ghana where WaterAid, as part of the HSBC Water Programme, is working to improve access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. As an international non-government organisation (NGO), WaterAid works with some of the poorest communities around the world to provide long-term water and sanitation solutions. During the weeklong visit, scheduled for November 2013, the HSBC team will travel to districts in the Northern and Upper Eastern regions of Ghana. The group will be visiting established WaterAid projects to see the difference safe water, sanitation and hygiene have already made to individuals, communities and local economies. As part of its work, WaterAid aims to reach 120,000 people with safe water and 80,000 people with sanitation in Ghana. HSBC Malta CEO Mark Watkinson said: "The HSBC team will experience the very significant difference that WaterAid is bringing to Ghana. Employee involvement is an important element of HSBC's sustainability initiatives as it allows our people to participate and see the outcome of their own work." Claire Pearson, HSBC Water Programme Manager at WaterAid, said: "The support to WaterAid from HSBC Malta has been extraordinary. They are the first HSBC country to commit to raising funds for a new project for the HSBC Water Programme, planned for 2014. They are also a pioneer of the first WaterAid Volunteer Speaker Network outside of the UK. It's incredibly exciting to work with such an enthusiastic team and they are really setting the standard for others to hopefully follow." "What the group of representatives learn and experience in Ghana will inform and enrich the talks they give as WaterAid Speakers to their colleagues, community groups, schools and businesses on their return. We're really looking forward to showing the group what an incredible difference the HSBC Water Programme is making to the lives of people in Ghana." The group of HSBC representatives, will be led by Stephen Pandolfino, HSBC Malta's Deputy Chief Risk Officer, and will include HSBC Malta's Edward Cachia, Graziella Grech Borg, Paul Curmi, Raymond Cassar, and Samantha Hollyoak. With the support of HSBC Water Programme, WaterAid will reach 1.1 million people with safe water and provide better sanitation for 1.9 million persons over five years in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana and Nigeria. More info is available via the HSBC Water Programme website at www.thewaterhub.org. In addition, one can email speakers@wateraid.org to request a WaterAid speaker for a free talk for your community group, school or business. The HSBC Water Programme is a five-year, USD100 million programme, in partnership with widely respected non-government organisations (NGOs) – WWF, WaterAid and Earthwatch, delivering a powerful combination of water provision, protection and education; resulting in the most ground-breaking water programme committed to by a financial organisation. Meanwhile, the HSBC Water Programme has invested €500,000 in the Government of Malta's Catch the Drop campaign, a large-scale Children's author Anna Wilson visits St Edward's College THURSDAY morning proved to be one of laughter and inspiration as St Edward's College, in collaboration with Agenda Bookshop, hosted a welcomed visit by children's author Anna Wilson. Wilson resides in Bradfordon-Avon with her husband, two children, two cats, some chickens and a dog. Her books are centred on household pets and life experiences. During her visit to the college she reached into her past to recite how her love for writing began. Injecting her infectious humour into her stories she had Junior school boys reeling with laughter yet still retaining their full attention. Throughout her talk, it clearly showed that the students wanted to know more about what inspired her to write the books she writes as their arms strained in hopes of getting their questions answered. Among her numerous publications are her most popular; The Smug Pug, Puppy Love, Monkey Business and her new release I'm a Chicken Get Me Out of Here. She revealed that one of her pet chickens was her inspiration. A wide selection of her books have been for sale at the college and at Agenda Bookshop but her new release has proved to be a hit with the students as the majority got their hands on a copy in the past weeks. The visit ended with a book signing with students lining up to get a copy of one of her publications signed. All the while students beamed with joy as Wilson signed a small personal note on their book. The college continually encourages initiatives such as these to encourage students to read and take pleasure in their story telling. Anna Wilson during her visit to St Edward's College As part of the HSBC Water Programme, WaterAid will reach 1.1 million people with safe water and 1.9 million with sanitation over five years. Photo credit: WaterAid/ Andrew Esiebo three-year initiative to raise awareness about water conservation and stimulate positive change towards sustainable fresh water use in Malta and Gozo. The campaign aims to reach every single student in Malta, that is, over 50,000 students coming from 155 schools, all the 67 Local Councils in Malta and Gozo, as well as the Maltese public at large. Clever Accounting supports micro-enterprises in Malta with 100 free accounting software packages MICROENTERPRISES in Malta may benefit from 100 free accounting software subscriptions being offered by Clever Solutions Ltd. Called Clever Accounting, the online software is designed to be user-friendly for both small business owners and accountants in Malta. To qualify for one of the 100 software subscriptions, applicants must have less than ten employees. Applications are available online at www. cleveraccounting.com/free100. "Many small companies struggle to properly manage their finances, which is a crucial part of running any business. Our software makes accounting more straightforward for business owners and helps them get more value from their accounts data," said Clever Solutions Ltd's Managing Director Carmelo Romano. 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Clever Accounting is a product of Clever Solutions Ltd., a digital solutions company set up in 2007 and based in Malta. The software is based on open-source technology and has been customised to meet local tax & business requirements. The concept behind the product follows the global trend in which traditional desktop based software is being replaced with more flexible and affordable cloud solutions. Companies interested in a free 12month subscription may apply by visiting http://www.cleveraccounting.com/free100 Download the MaltaToday App now