As a means of promoting sports among the city’s youth and enriching their understanding of the local community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has made a donation of some HK$31 million for the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong to implement a Jockey Club Mapperthon Community Action Project for three years. One of the Club’s “Sportovation” initiatives, the project is aimed at motivating young people to take part in seven “street-based” sports while developing community resource-matching initiatives to convert calories burned into daily necessities that help those in need.

Today (14 May), the Club’s Head of Charities (Grant Making – Sports, Recreation, Arts & Culture) Rhoda Chan joined Under Secretary for Home Affairs Florence Hui, the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong’s Vice President Joshua Yau and General Secretary Karl Lau at the opening ceremony of the project.

“The Club has been supporting the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong since the 1940s to promote sports-related projects, help build and upgrade sports facilities, and support activities targeting local youth,” said Ms Chan. “Sport is one of the four strategic focus areas of the Club’s Charities Trust. We have developed the concept of ‘Sportovation’ to promote sports for all, using innovative sporting ideas to motivate individuals at all levels to take part. By injecting such new elements, we want to arouse their interest in taking up physical activities, so as to make exercise become a regular habit.”

The project links sports to the community by helping participants understand the needs, resources and environment of their local area, and making sports meaningful and convenient to the city’s youth.

Key components of the Jockey Club Mapperthon Community Action Project are:

1. Sports training: In five districts, 1,500 mappers will be recruited and trained in seven “street-based” sports – running, cycling, street dance, street workout, X-Games, cricket and taspony (a type of volleyball using sponge ball) – as well as their understanding of social issues and the mapping of community assets.


2. Community resources mapping and matching. Mappers will develop feasible community resource-matching initiatives in co-operation with local small shops and corporates. Each mapper with be equipped with a fitness tracker for recording the amount of calories burned during exercise, which can be transformed into the amount of resources to be donated by the corporates. Together, they are expected to conduct 100 to 150 services each year, helping the underprivileged in the community.


3. Overseas sports experience for mappers. Mappers will be invited to submit proposals for an overseas sports development experience of their choice, for example participating in an overseas triathlon. Ten proposals will be selected each year, with each successful mapper receiving up to HK$30,000 in funding support.


4. Public engagement. Talks will be arranged in schools around Hong Kong and a carnival organised at the end of each year to promote sports and active living, attracting over 45,000 participants.

For details of the project, please visit: http://www.ymca.org.hk/en/content/mapperthon-community-action-project.

The Club has long been committed to helping Hong Kong strengthen its sporting infrastructure, as well as promoting a sporting culture in the city and assisting the professional development of Hong Kong athletes. In the past decade alone, the Club’s Charities Trust has contributed over HK$1.9 billion to sports development. The Club’s vision is that ‘All Hong Kong people should Love, Value and Play Sports’. Including this project, the Club has earmarked approximately HK$155 million to support five Sports for All programmes, which are expected to benefit over 240,000 people.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a not-for-profit enterprise dedicated to community betterment. Through its integrated business model of world-class racing, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution, the Club generates substantial economic and social value and assists the Government in combating 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 and one of the world’s largest charity donors. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong.