stable background for citizenship that the efforts of the Youth Welfare Section of the Department and of various voluntary youth organizations are directed.
31. The Chinese Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. provide several thou- sands of children and young people with a variety of group activities and encourage children and young people to discover and develop their own particular interests and pursuits. In addition, they and the Salvation Army run hostels for about 800 young men and women.
32. The Y.M.C.A. camp at Junk Bay provided a ten-day holiday for some 1,200 poor children during the year while an international boys' camp and a schoolboys' camp were organized for more than 400 children from less poor families. The Silvermine Bay Holiday Camp on Lantau Island, controlled by the Standing Conference of Youth Organizations, provided a week's holiday by the sea for another 3,230 poor children. The aquatics and recreation centre run by the Chinese Y.M.C.A. at Lai Chi Kok offered daily instruction in life-saving, swim- ming, water polo, etc. for members and friends.
33. Scouting and Guiding continued to expand during the year and membership now exceeds 7,000 and 2,000 respectively. The Scouts have completed the first stage of the development of their 40-acre camp site at Tate's Pass, which commands a panoramic view of the Sai Kung and Sha Tin areas. The site can now accommodate 200 for training courses, camping activities and competitions but when fully developed will have a capacity for 600 people. The training team of the Girl Guides Association spent a busy year conducting courses at all levels.
34. The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association and its affiliated organi- zations were running 208 clubs with nearly 13,000 members by the close of the year. Thirteen of the clubs, with a membership of 320, were run by the Department.
35. Children in Hong Kong are voracious readers and the families of many thousands cannot afford to buy books, or even to hire the dubious wares offered by itinerant book pedlars at street corners. Consequently children's libraries continued to be in great demand and the Hong Kong Junior Chamber of Commerce, which is a pioneer in this field, equipped and stocked three more libraries during the year, bringing to 20 the number of libraries for children which the Jaycees have established and handed over to voluntary agencies since 1951. The new libraries, at the Tai Wo Hau resettlement estate, the Lei Cheng Uk resettlement estate and Wan Chai, were entrusted to the Board of
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