‘Many are keen to give back’: Employees from 14 iGaming firms collaborate for environment cleanup

Last Friday, 50 iGaming employees together with their family members and friends gathered at Golden Bay to collect waste from three pre-agreed areas, as part of an initiative organised by iGEN, the iGaming European Network in collaboration with the Majjistral Park Rangers to support Earth Day (also on Friday).

The volunteers, from 14 iGaming companies and organisations spent two hours on site, clearing a huge amount of litter from the roadside, cliffs and wooded areas from Golden Bay carpark up to Riviera, removing everything from the usual plastic bottles and cans, and food packaging, to car tires, plastic pipes and suitcases.

iGEN's Glen Smith, who organised the event alongside Enrico Bradamante, spoke to iGamingCapital.mt about the initiative, and why it is important to him to 'give back'.

"The thousands of people who have moved to Malta to work within iGaming enjoy an amazing life here in these beautiful islands, and many are keen to give something back to show their appreciation," he explained.

Helping to clean the country's environment gives them the opportunity to do so, and also gives the added advantage of allowing people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds to engage with each other.

On a more personal level, Mr Smith explains that from his own perspective, he has been concerned about environmental issues since moving to Malta from Sweden in 2016 to work in the iGaming industry.

"As a keen cyclist and hiker I could see the extent of the problem, especially around Bahar ic Caghaq where I live," he shared.

"Sweden has a great tradition of personal environmental responsibility and this was naturally ingrained in my thinking from my time there. As with many others, when lockdown started I suddenly had more time on my hands to do something about it, starting small scale collecting litter from the countryside around the village, and slowly building up momentum."

When he began working with iGEN then, it felt natural for him to get involved with the organisations' environmental initiatives too, and he explains that it was clear from the member companies' responses to the new initiative that there were a large number of people, both foreign or local, who were already volunteering in clear-ups, or who were keen to start.

Friday's initiative was participated in by volunteers from ComeOn, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), HeroGaming, Betsson, Videoslots, ApireGlobal, Internet Vikings, Pariplay, GamingMalta, CatenaMedia, Genesis Global, Kalamba and Thunderkick.