This year the winner of the MASW Lifetime Achievement Award was Salesian Priest Fr Antoine Farrugia, a professional Social Worker who has left a mark on the field of Social Work in Malta, particularly in relation to Out-of-Home Care Services.

Biographical Note:
Having obtained a Social Worker’s warrant, Fr Antoine read for a certificate in Social Work Management from the University of Malta and then for a Master of Science in Child Protection and Welfare from Trinity College, Dublin. He worked with children and young people suffering the consequences of abuse and trauma, as Unit Leader and then Head of Care, within the Residential Services of St Patrick’s Salesian School, during which time he opened Don Bosco House, the first non-institutional out-of-home care service in Malta. He also worked at Dar Osanna Pia and was elected on the MASW Executive Committee.

Fr Antoine served as an Operator, Supervisor, Support Services Manager and eventually a Board Member on the online support service for young people Kellimni.com. He was instrumental in the introduction of Standards in Alternative Care Services for Children and Young People; and was entrusted by Government with coordinating the national Out-of-Home Care Strategy; and appointed as a Member of the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector. Having worked with the Commissioner for Children, the President’s Trust and other bodies on various projects over the years, he was trusted to chair an inter-ministerial working group on Aftercare Services and other projects.

He became involved with the Salesian presence in Brussels and at the UN, and currently sits on the Board of Don Bosco International. For ten years he was also College Chaplain at the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) and concurrently Deputy Chairperson of the Maltese Church’s inter-diocesan Safeguarding Commission, while running the Salesian Youth Centre in Senglea. Fr Antoine lectures in Safeguarding Children for the Pastoral Formation Institute and is currently Director of St Patrick’s, the flagship service of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Malta.

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