OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: A FULLER LIFE FOR ALL
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of the natural environment, while promoting both local and international travel and friendship.
Outward Bound School
The Outward Bound School at Tai Mong Tsai continues to provide Hong Kong with very high standards of character training and development. The school is still expand- ing, both in terms of the number of students attending courses and in the diversity of activities it provides.
One of the school's most important functions continues to be the support it gives the Recreation and Sport Service. This support, subsidised from government funds, enables the Recreation and Sport Service to use the school to supplement its extraor- dinarily wide programme of recreational activities, especially in high-risk sports, such as rock climbing, mountaineering and deep-sea canoeing. The staff of the Outward Bound School are particularly well qualified in these areas.
The school also is continuing to provide more special courses for both the young and the old - from children to business executives and even families. Greater provision is being made for the handicapped and plans are in hand to extend these facilities to include the educationally sub-normal. Special courses are being designed to allow these less fortunate children to develop recreational skills within their limitations.
More sea-based activities are planned for the standard 25-day courses, which are open to any healthy person aged from 16 to 26 and which are strongly supported by business houses, government departments and other organisations. Initially, these courses will be modified to include sail training, but it is hoped that other_related activities will be added to build a programme befitting the heritage upon which Hong Kong was built.
Many clubs and associations are active in the recreation field. The range of sporting interests is growing fast and instruction is available in everything from the Korean martial art, Tae Kwon Do, to parachuting. More conventional sports, such as basket- ball, mini-soccer, volleyball and, increasingly, tennis have a large following. Water sports like water skiing and scuba diving also enjoy excellent facilities and standards in sailing are high - as was proved by Hong Kong's impressive performance in the 1977 Admiral's Cup.
Programmes for Elderly and Disabled
One growing sector is the community's aged, whose numbers have shown a sharp in- crease in recent years. In 1961, only 2.8 per cent of the population was over 65. By 1976, the figure had risen to 5.5 per cent and it is expected to reach 7.4 per cent by 1986. This trend has not been overlooked. Activities, including excursions, harbour cruises, picnics and regular fitness programmes, are organised throughout the year by the Recreation and Sport Service, whose Tai Chi classes for the elderly alone attracted several hundred participants in 1977. Other programmes catering for the recreational needs of the aged also are provided by the Urban Council, the Social Welfare Department and many voluntary agencies.
Similarly, there is a growing appreciation of the needs of the handicapped, estimated to number about 320,000. The Recreation and Sport Service places special emphasis on designing imaginative programmes for paraplegics, the mentally handicapped, the