Corporate News

Jockey Club encourages local youth harness their creativity to address social challenges

07/21/2017

Young people have enormous potential to make a difference. To develop and enhance their creativity, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has since 2012 funded the Jockey Club Make a Difference (MaD) School, which has successfully attracted over 35,000 participants to various programmes. The latest highlight is the International Assembly @ MaD Festival 2017, opened today (21 July) by the Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, HKSAR Chief Executive The Hon Carrie Lam, Head of Create Hong Kong Jerry Liu and Chairperson of the MaD Institute Ada Wong.

Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said that youth development was one of the Club’s charitable strategic areas of focus. He was particularly pleased to work with the Make a Difference Institute as the Club’s long-term partner in this important area. Through its innovative programmes, MaD provided a diverse learning platform that broadened young people’s horizons, encouraged them to think out of the box, and empowered them to be socially conscious change-makers who could tackle complex social challenges.

Under this year’s theme of “The Blink of the Creative Mass”, some 1,300 aspiring change-makers from more than 160 Asian cities are participating in various ripple forums, open studios and local excursions, sharing their experiences with innovators from around the world. For more information, please visit http://mad2017.mad.asia/en/.

The MaD Forum actually pre-dates the MaD School, having been launched with the Trust’s support in 2010.  It was the success of the Forum that inspired the Trust to make a further donation two years later to establish the Jockey Club MaD School. The School offers a wide range of programmes and activities for the young generation, encouraging them to explore social issues from multiple perspectives and bring positive change to society. In addition, the Trust is supporting the Jockey Club Make a Difference Social Lab for three years from 2016, seeking to tackle complex social challenges through cross-sectoral collaboration and co-creative experiments.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class racing club that acts continuously for the betterment of our society. The Club has a unique integrated business model, comprising racing and racecourse entertainment, a membership club, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution. Through this model, the Club generates economic and social value for the community and supports the Government in combatting illegal gambling.  In 2015/16, the Club donated a record HK$3.9 billion to charity and paid a record HK$20.9 billion in tax. It is Hong Kong's largest single tax payer, one of the city’s major employers and one of the world's top ten charity donors.  The Club is always "riding high together for a better future" with the people of Hong Kong. 

The Cluba£į?s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (2nd right), HKSAR Chief Executive The Hon Carrie Lam (2nd left), Chairperson of the MaD Institute Ada Wong (3rd right) and other guests at the opening ceremony of International Assembly @ MaD Festival 2017.
The Cluba£į?s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (2nd right), HKSAR Chief Executive The Hon Carrie Lam (2nd left), Chairperson of the MaD Institute Ada Wong (3rd right) and other guests at the opening ceremony of International Assembly @ MaD Festival 2017.

The Cluba£į?s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (right) shares his thoughts and experience with some of the young participants.
The Cluba£į?s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (right) shares his thoughts and experience with some of the young participants.

Group photo.
Group photo.

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