Jockey Cluba£á?s new initiative offers first large-scale, volunteer-driven free educational programme

02/18/2012

Taking its long-standing contributions to community education and youth development to a new level, The Hong Kong Jockey Club announced today (18 February) a pioneering new programme of workshops in collaboration with the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGHs) to provide local senior secondary students with learning experiences outside the classroom.  This responds to the Government's New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum, in which Other Learning Experiences (OLE) is seen as an important element in fostering students' whole-person development.

The workshops will be led by the Club's own CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team and will be offered to some 3,000 senior students in 18 TWGHs secondary schools citywide.  It will be the first large-scale free educational programme driven by volunteers in Hong Kong, and the Club hopes that besides offering students the opportunity to widen their horizons, it will demonstrate to them the caring culture of volunteering.

At today's launch ceremony at Sha Tin Racecourse, Club Chairman T Brian Stevenson joined Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges and TWGHs  Vice-Chairman Frederick Fung King-wai and some 1,500 school principals, students, CARE volunteers and other programme partners to create what is believed to be the world’s biggest-ever "goody bag".  The goodies were later distributed by the students and CARE volunteers to elderly people in various districts of the city to spread love and warmth in the new Year of the Dragon.

Mr Stevenson told the guests that he saw Other Learning Experiences as an especially important aspect of the new secondary curriculum, as it would help Hong Kong's young people gain a wider knowledge of the community around them and benefit their all-round development.

"Getting the students involved in different aspects of community services, sports development and arts and cultural initiatives will, we hope, reinforce their positive values and attitudes, and help them become part of the Force for Good in society, benefiting all Hong Kong people in the long term," he explained.

Mr Stevenson noted that among the countless donations the Club had made to the community through its not-for-profit business model, education and youth development had long been high priority areas.  "Over the years, we have helped build everything from primary schools in the 1950s to the University of Science & Technology in the early '90s, and also supported programmes such as the Jockey Club Lifewide Learning Fund and our own, the very successful Jockey Club Scholarship Scheme," he observed.

Acknowledging the Club’s significant contributions to education in Hong Kong over the years, Vice-Chairman of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Frederick Fung King-wai pledged his organisation’s full support to the Club’s pioneering OLE programme. He expressed appreciation towards the Club’s commitment in “providing facilities and support to make Hong Kong’s first large-scale, free, quality educational initiative led by volunteers possible.” Also commended were the generous efforts of the Club’s volunteers. Mr Fung believed they would become the students’ inspiration and role models. 

The OLE programme organised by the Club will dovetail seamlessly with Hong Kong’s NSS curriculum, offering the Form 4 TWGHs students a range of unique Club-related activities to fulfil four of the specified areas of OLE, namely Community Service, Career-related Experiences, Physical Development  and Aesthetic Development.

The programme will span 20 months.  Under the guidance of CARE volunteers, students will gain first-hand experience in planning, organising and participating in community service initiatives, thereby gaining insight into the needs of different strata in the community.  They will also have the opportunity of visiting Club facilities that are seldom open to the public, including the Equine Hospital, horse swimming pool and Apprentice Jockeys’ School.  By interacting with Club staff in different areas of expertise, such as veterinarians, laboratory professionals and farriers, they will acquire knowledge of the different professions within the Club.

To promote the students’ physical development, CARE volunteers and trainers will teach the “Hong Kong Students Can Do Exercise” in the participating schools to encourage adoption of a healthy lifestyle.  Students will also experience the fun of horseback riding at the Tuen Mun Public Riding School and learn more about equestrian sports development in Hong Kong.

On the aesthetic front, CARE volunteers will guide students to visit the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Wan Chai.  The Club hopes that up-close-and-personal encounters with the artists and performers at these Club-supported projects will awaken the students' artistic talents.

At today's launch ceremony, students demonstrated their aesthetic flair by using colourful horseshoe-shaped stickers to create a huge map of Hong Kong, symbolising the close collaboration between the Club and participating schools in nurturing the future pillars of society and supporting Hong Kong’s sustainable growth.

Making today’s event extra-special was the creation of a giant goody bag by CARE volunteers and some 1,500 students, containing thousands of smaller goody bags they had earlier prepared.  The giant bag also contained gifts hand-picked by Club Chairman Mr Stevenson, CEO Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges and TWGHs Vice-Chairman Mr Fung.  The Club will apply to Guinness World Records to qualify it as the world’s largest goody bag.  A giant heart-shaped formation was also created at the event, promoting the caring culture of volunteering to every corner of the city.

The Club’s OLE Programme was set in motion immediately after the launch ceremony as students of TWGHs schools, led by CARE volunteers, visited elderly homes in various districts to spread their love and warmth by distributing the individual goody bags.

Established in 2005, the CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team provides a platform for the Club full- and part-time employees, as well as retirees, to contribute to the community in keeping with the Club's own charitable mission.  Much of the team's work is focused on district-based programmes, in which the volunteers work with local organisations to organise and design programmes that reflect the characteristics of the different districts and meet the specific needs of local target groups.

The Volunteer Team has staged various programmes and activities for young people in the past years.  In 2008, a series of thematic summer workshops provided students with an opportunity to venture outside their home communities and visit different heritage trails.  Another six-day summer workshop in 2010, entitled "Developing Talent through Exploring Hong Kong", enabled secondary students from Tin Shui Wai, Tung Chung and Sham Shui Po to gain new knowledge through thematic activities covering sports, environmental protection, community service and learning about society. 

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has become one of Hong Kong's best known and respected organisations, providing the public with world-class sporting entertainment as well as being the city's major non-Government community benefactor, now donating more than HK$1 billion a year to charitable and community projects.  It has been a part of Hong Kong through good times and bad, sharing the city's growth and development with its people, and is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for future generations. 

Attachment: Factsheet on the HKJC Other Learning Experiences Programme