ENG-1971 — Page 277

RECREATION

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for young people to mix together and to develop their potential qualities of leadership. Special efforts were made to attract young workers and unattached young people.

Expenditure on the community programme amounted to well over $2 million, excluding staff and other administrative costs. The money came from many sources-from generous grants totalling almost $900,000 from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, from public funds and from numerous community and individual donations.

The recreation programme included outdoor excursions, visits and tours, sports contests, service and holiday camps, and other social and cultural activities. Among the new projects were two youth leadership training camps lasting two weeks each and run by the British Armed Forces in co-operation with the Social Welfare Department. They were designed to train young people to become leaders in an outdoor environment. The Education Department also successfully conducted an extensive learn-to-swim campaign which gave swimming instruction to about 4,000 children from 150 schools. In conjunction with the YWCA and 30 secondary schools, the department also held its first camps for girls at Wu Kwai Sha.

The organisation of such a programme was again made possible only through the joint efforts and ready co-operation of the com- munity at large. The overall co-ordination of the planning, and particularly the financing, was undertaken by the ad hoc Central Co-ordinating Committee for Youth Recreation. This committee was first set up in 1969 and comprises representatives from the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and major government departments concerned with youth recreation. In city and New Territories districts, local committees, working closely with City and New Territories District Offices and the Social Welfare Department, continued to provide focal points for planning and co-ordination at the grass-roots level.

ENTERTAINMENT AND THE ARTS

The cultural life of Hong Kong, in which the performing arts are now playing an increasingly important role, centres on the City Hall administered under policies laid down by the Urban Council.

Opened in 1962, the facilities include a concert hall with 1,500 seats, that can be quickly converted for use for theatrical pro- ductions, an intimate 470-seat theatre that is also used for film shows, a museum and art gallery, rooms for exhibitions, lectures