from a wider field. The Award Scheme for girls will shortly be intro- duced; and the syllabus is at present being amended to meet Hong Kong conditions.
80. The Department, with the assistance of the Education Depart- ment and the Federation of Youth Groups, has set up a training and recreation centre for youth groups in the former Survey Camp at Tsuen Wan. It can accommodate fifty boys and girls and courses in a variety of outdoor activities are planned. Trekking and hiking in the New Territories are being encouraged by arranging for village schools to accommodate up to ten young people a night on youth hostel lines and three such hostels have already been established. Canoeing is also being encouraged. Measures such as these, with their emphasis on the outdoor life, could be of great benefit to young people by providing them with a chance to pursue vigorous open-air activities, to counterbalance the cramping effects of crowded urban conditions.
81. The Boy Scouts Association continued to expand its work in training leaders, and offering opportunities for developing interests, discipline and service to others for 9,000 boys aged 7 to 21. During the year three members of the Association attended the Eighth Far East Team Training Course in the Philippines, while another member was able, with a grant from the Sir Robert Black Trust Fund, to spend eight weeks in the United Kingdom studying the internal structure and organization of the British Handicapped Scout Branch. In the past scouting in the Colony has found its chief support from schools. The Association has laid plans for extending its activities to the boys of Resettlement Estates where schools are not easily able to form the nuclei around which troops can grow.
82. The highlight of the year for the 2,500 Girl Guides was the eight-day visit of Lady Baden-Powell to the Colony. On 28th November, 1962 between 2,500 to 3,000 people attended a camp-fire in her honour. Two members of the Association attended the Commissioners' Confer- ence in Kuala Lumpur, an indication of the Association's interest in developments in other countries which can assist work in Hong Kong.
83. A wide range of activities for older children is provided by a number of organizations in the Colony. Among these may be mentioned the promotion of youth activities by the Chinese Young Men's Christian Association at the Wong Tai Sin and Princess Alexandra Community Centres and the work of the Boys Brigade with a membership of 77. Many other organizations have contributed to meeting the special needs of young people.
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