Customers who have bought items from wearenotashop.com can now make a satisfying claim: together, they have made a huge difference to two major charities in Malta.
Launched not long before the pandemic by Sir Martin and Lady Stephanie Laing, the popular online shopping experience blends altruism with eye-catching design. It offers a carefully curated collection of hard-to-find new or antique items in return for donations – with many pieces also promoting and preserving the vibrant local heritage. Every cent received for the store’s wide range of unusual new and antique homeware items, artworks, gifts and jewellery then goes directly towards charity, supporting the Save the Valletta Skyline Appeal and St John Malta.
To date, wearenotashop.com has already raised an impressive sum for both charities via its 591 clients and 1,260 completed orders: a total of €81,730, of which €49,038 has supported the Save the Valletta Skyline Appeal and €32,692 has helped the important work of St John Malta.
“The idea of an online shop was Stephanie’s, following the success of some earlier pop-up shops and with the enthusiastic support and hard work of a fantastic team. wearenotashop.com has always had the potential to do so much good, long-term, as these results show,” says Sir Martin, who is also Chairman of the Save the Valletta Skyline Appeal, which aims to raise €8 million to fund vital restoration works to St Paul’s Anglican Pro-Cathedral in Valletta, thus preserving this key feature of the capital’s iconic skyline. “The store is an entirely original venture, which is raising vitally important funds for local charities. Long may wearenotashop.com continue to collect and sell the beautiful, the unusual and the unique, to customers young and old, near and far – to keep helping beautiful, unusual, and unique Malta and her community, young and old, near and far.”
The Appeal’s Chairman of the Fundraising Committee, Christopher Wicker, agrees. “wearenotashop.com is the most extraordinary endeavour of a very small number of volunteers following the inspiration of the two philanthropic founders, whose drive and sheer effort are truly inspirational to all. It has an amazing future ahead for those lucky charities it supports,” he says. “As the renovation budget has ballooned, the regular donation from wearenotashop.com has been vital to sustaining the Appeal’s financial assistance, while keeping it in the public eye and motivating the Appeal Committees in their endeavours.”
Meanwhile, 40% of all money raised through wearenotashop.com supports St John Malta, a voluntary organisation that provides essential first aid, health care and support services to the local community.
“The impact of wearenotashop.com is very significant,” says Dr Michael Frendo, Chairman of St John Malta. “It helps us fund a part-time administrator to ensure the organisation addresses its goals by providing ambulance, first aid training and rescue services through its volunteers. Future funds will enable us, among other projects, to set up another professional First Aid Training Room in our HQ and a project in Corradino to protect the ambulances from the elements when not in use.
“To Malta’s community, we say: please continue to support wearenotashop.com with your acquisitions and donations – it is an innovative not-for-profit venture that provides us with much-needed regular income to fund our operations. And to wearenotashop.com: a heartfelt thank you for supporting St John Malta!”
We Are Not A Shop is online at www.wearenotashop.com. Donations are welcome via the contact form on the website. More information about the Save the Valletta Skyline Appeal can be found online at www.stpaulspromalta.org and about St John Malta at www.stjohnmalta.org.
