ENG-1965 — Page 180

SOCIAL WELfare

141

proceeds of government lotteries will be paid. The fund will be used on the advice of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee, princi- pally to promote capital projects which may be proposed for grants by voluntary organizations as part of their development plans, including special medical and educational projects. The initial major grants approved were of $1 million each. The first was for a research project under the joint auspices of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and the Social Welfare Department, in the form of a survey of urban family life in Hong Kong. The second was for a community centre to be run by the people of the growing town of Yuen Long in the New Territories. Later, two interest-free loans of $2 million each were approved for the Chinese Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association. The Chinese YMCA will build a sports and youth centre, and the YWCA a combined youth centre and hostel. Grants totalling $600,000 were made to the British Red Cross Society, Hong Kong Branch, for equipping a special school for disabled children; to the Family Planning Association for a publicity cam- paign; to the Girl Guides Association for the construction of a new headquarters building; to the Hong Kong Council of Social Service for replacement of equipment used by members of its sub-committee on child feeding; and to the Medical and Health Department to aid physically handicapped people in using public transport.

These grants and loans totalled over $6,500,000 from a fund which had grown, over four annual seasons, to nearly $10 million. Further schemes proposed by various organizations were being examined at the end of the year with a view to grants being made. The fund's income from government lotteries is expected to be in the neighbourhood of $3 million a year, depending on the number of lotteries that can be held and the periods available for selling tickets.

YOUTH WELFARE

Hong Kong is not a single community in terms of accepted traditions and values. Its special social, economic and financial conditions place particularly heavy demands upon the welfare services and at the same time make it difficult for these demands to be fully met. Among the services provided by the govern- ment and voluntary agencies, youth services become increasingly

Page 180Page 181