ENG-1980 — Page 265

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RECREATION AND THE ARTS

increasingly important. Expertise now being gained is expected to benefit other agencies active in this field and several already look to the Recreation and Sport Service for advice and assistance.

Complementing the work of the local sports associations and organisations remained another significant aspect of the service's work and continued help was given in training instructors and officials for various sports.

One major project during the year brought the service together with two sports bodies, the Jubilee Sports Centre, and a local company, to provide football training for some 3,000 youngsters. At the end of the course, the 150 youngsters showing the most promise were selected for advanced coaching at the Jubilee Sports Centre.

During 1980, over 556,625 people took part in 4,116 programmes offered by the service, an increase of 24 per cent over the previous year. Much of this increase was made possible by commercial sponsors, who supported 157 events. The Urban Council provided $407,000 for staging 256 programmes in conjunction with the service - attended by 51,483 people - and in the New Territories the district advisory boards provided about $600,000 for recrea- tional activities following a successful pilot scheme the previous year.

Most of the participants in RSS programmes are young working people. Activities which would involve them in even greater numbers led to the organising of the first in-house programmes for individual firms and factories in 1980, and was seen as a step forward by managements in the area of staff welfare.

Of the new facilities opened in 1980, the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village at Tsak Yue Wu, Sai Kung, was the largest. Converted from engineers' quarters constructed for the High Island Reservoir Scheme, the village has been designed for an eventual capacity of 250 campers and provides similar amenities to those of the popular Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre - although the accent is more on relaxation than on strenuous activities. Another recreational bonus provided by the High Island Reservoir project was the man-made lake behind the west sea coffer dam, which the RSS has begun using to run boating courses for the public. In addition, Hong Kong's first permanent water sports centre was further developed at Tai Mei Tuk near Tai Po.

Throughout the year, good use continued to be made of the temporary sports centre at the Hung Hom car park, which began operating in 1976. Altogether, 82,699 people gathered there for 744 programmes which included dancing, fitness training, and trampolining. Consideration is now being given to providing a number of similar centres in the next few years.

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While encouraging people to become more active, the service also takes an interest in seeing that they have places where they can exercise regularly. During the year talks were held with the Housing Authority to see how facilities in housing estates, especially in the rapidly-growing new towns, can be improved to provide more areas for active recreation. The service is also closely involved with schemes to make better use of Hong Kong's extensive rooftop areas. A tennis court operated by tenants, on a residential block at Lai Tak Chuen, could become the prototype for many more.

Summer Youth Programme

The 12th Summer Youth Programme, which was arranged by the Central Co-ordinating Committee for Youth Recreation, provided more than two million young people with addi- tional recreational and sporting activities from mid-June to early September. This annual programme, organised by government and non-government bodies, assisted by 50,000 young volunteers, provided over 8,000 indoor and outdoor events at a cost of $8.1 million.