Charities Trust donations reach a record HK$1.368 billion in "challenging year"

9 July 2009

The Hong Kong Jockey Club announced today (9 July) that total charitable donations for the financial year 2008/09 reached a record HK$1.368 billion, an increase of 30% on the previous year.

The Club's Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said that although the global economic downturn had made this a very challenging year, the Board believed that it was more important than ever at such times to honour the Club's long-standing commitment of support to the community.

"Because our surplus has sharply dropped to around HK$700 million this year and therefore our appropriation to the Charities Trust will fall far below the donation amount, the Trust will need to dip into its reserves," Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said. "We are prepared to do this, because now is the time that community groups most need our support."

This year's donations, he said, had a strong focus on youth issues and sport, because these areas were seen as crucial to Hong Kong's long-term development.

A major commitment in the area of youth development was the provision of a further HK$350 million to support the extension of "P.A.T.H.S. to Adulthood: A Jockey Club Youth Enhancement Scheme" for a further three school years from 2009/10, and introduce a number of enhancements.

P.A.T.H.S. is a project proactively launched by the Club in 2005 in collaboration with the Government's Education Bureau, Social Welfare Department and a research team of experts from five local universities. It aims to help junior secondary students develop positive beliefs and values, as well as enhance their self confidence and sense of responsibility, during their years of early adolescence which are well known to be stressful for young people as they face many physical, psychological and academic changes in their lives.

The project has proved outstandingly successful with nearly 50% of all secondary schools in Hong Kong now teaching P.A.T.H.S. modules. Some 5,000 teachers and school social workers have received training on the programmes, and over 100,000 junior secondary students have already benefited. The project has also attracted wide attention overseas, with the education sectors in Macau, Shanghai and Singapore all expressing interest in implementing similar programmes.

Principal Investigator of P.A.T.H.S. Professor Daniel Shek said he was delighted that the Club had agreed to extend its support for another three years. "It was intended originally as a three-year project, but it has achieved such positive results that it would be a great pity to lose the momentum now," said Mr Shek, who is also Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Chairman of the Action Committee Against Narcotics. "Our studies have shown that over 90% of teachers and social workers feel that P.A.T.H.S. has been conducive to their students' whole-person development, and over 80% of the participating students have commended its positive impact on their personal growth. The P.A.T.H.S. project will also definitely play an important role in the battle against adolescent substances abuse in Hong Kong."

Another significant donation in the youth area is a HK$133.3 million grant to The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG), to meet Hong Kong's fast-growing demand for outdoor camp sites. The donation announced in early May will fund the Phase III redevelopment of HKFYG Jockey Club Sai Kung Outdoor Training Camp (the Club has funded the two earlier phases of redevelopment at this very popular camp site since it was built in 1965), enabling its residential capacity to be doubled to 460 and adding several new facilities, including a new recreation block, a boathouse and slipway. It will also be possible to add new elements to the camp's programmes such as guided tours on geology, marine life and heritage. In addition, the Club has also earmarked funding this year for the expansion of the Po Leung Kuk Jockey Club Tai Tong Holiday Camp in Yuen Long.

In the area of sports development, the Club has funded a variety of projects that benefit both able-bodied and disabled athletes. It is supporting Hong Kong's hosting of the 2009 East Asian Games in December as Principal Contributor, with a HK$40 million donation that will fund a student ticket scheme, the volunteer programme for the Games, and the construction of a BMX park at Kwai Chung. The BMX park will initially be used to stage competitions for the East Asian Games, and will serve as a community venue for cycling enthusiasts afterwards. "We hope these projects will attract more locals, especially young people, to take an active interest in the East Asian Games, and then hopefully encourage them to take up different sports themselves," Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges explained.

Hong Kong will also be hosting the 3rd Asia and South Pacific Boccia Championships 2009 in August after the late withdrawal of Malaysia. A HK$2.14 million Trust donation made it possible for Hong Kong to step into the breach at very short notice. Hong Kong has a strong track record in boccia, a ball game designed for wheelchair-bound athletes, and won gold and silver medals in the sport at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

Chairman of the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled, Jenny Fung, said that it was always difficult for small non-governmental organisations to get funding, especially in times of economic downturn, so the Club's willingness to help was a godsend. "We were under tremendous time constraints and financial pressure when we undertook to host the Boccia Championships at the very last minute," she said. "Had it not been the Club's flexibility and, more importantly, its responsiveness in processing our funding application, our boccia athletes would have lost a much needed opportunity to attain !¥entry tickets' to the 2012 London Paralympic Games. We cannot thank the Jockey Club enough for their generosity. They have made the Championships happen and, in doing so, will help to make the dreams of our aspiring Paralympians come true."

Ms Fung added that sports of all types were very beneficial and therapeutic to people with disabilities, but disabled sports generally attracted far less public attention and sponsorship than the popular professional sports. "We are very grateful to the Club for all the recognition and support they have given us over the years, which has helped many disabled athletes lead more active lives," she said.

The Club is also continuing its support for the Hong Kong Special Olympics golf squad and the Riding for the Disabled Association. The Club's funding of the Special Olympics golf squad enables people with intellectual disabilities to receive training at the Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course and then participate in local and international competitions.

Another major recent Trust commitment is the provision of HK$166.3 million for the redevelopment of the Home for the Aged Blind in Yuen Long, to cater for the needs of Hong Kong's growing elderly population. The present building is some 40 years old and was Hong Kong's first subvented home for aged blind residents when established.

Besides these major commitments, the Club has approved support for some 100 other projects this year, including dozens of smaller projects in the areas of community services, healthcare, education and training, and recreation and culture. It is also continuing to support a number of major, Club-initiated projects that address Hong Kong's long-term challenges, such as the Family Project launched in 2007 to tackle the problem of family discords and domestic violence at source.

Key elements of the Family Project are a public education programme and a comprehensive five-year survey of some 20,000 households citywide to identify the trend and magnitude of the problems affecting society. The survey, being conducted by the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, is already well under way. Based on its results, intervention strategies and programmes using the public health approach will be devised and implemented across Hong Kong with the collaboration of non-governmental agencies.

Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said that all the Club's community programmes, both new and old, were aimed at building a better Hong Kong for future generations. "Through our own sporting and entertainment operations, we want to make a difference to the lives of all Hong Kong people, whether young or old, able-bodied or disabled," he stressed.