ENG-2016 — Page 378

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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

2016. All of this was achieved despite Hong Kong having just 0.6 per cent of the world's horse races and 0.7 per cent of its thoroughbred racehorses in training.

The club is authorised by the government to provide responsible horse racing and football wagering services and to operate the Mark Six lottery. In doing so, it helps meet the public demand for betting and assists the government in combating illegal gambling. Indeed, the club holds the highest Level 4 accreditation under the World Lottery Organisation's Responsible Gambling Framework. Likewise, the club implements strict measures to prevent its operations being used for money laundering.

The club has been contributing to Hong Kong for over a century, both directly and through the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Today, it benefits 10 areas of social need: arts, culture and heritage; education and training; elderly services; emergency and poverty relief; environmental protection; family services; medicine and health; rehabilitation; sports and recreation; and youth development. Thanks to improved business performance, charity donations quadrupled between 2007-08 and 2015-16.

Drawing on its sporting expertise, the club also promotes community football and equestrian sports, while through its Riding High Together festival, which 26,000 people attended in 2016, it seeks to educate and inspire the wider community.

Looking to the future, the club remains committed to supporting the economic and social betterment of Hong Kong. To safeguard this commitment, not least from the substantial threat. of illegal gambling, the club continues to invest in its development. Five new or refurbished venues opened in 2015-16 under its $6.5 billion Racecourse Master Plan, while work continues on a next-generation customer information and wagering system. Above all, the Conghua Training Centre in Guangdong Province, to open in 2018, will provide world-class training and stabling facilities, positioning the club for its next phase of growth.

Outward Bound Hong Kong

Outward Bound Hong Kong (OBHK) is a member of Outward Bound International, which was founded in Britain in 1941 and is the world leader and originator of experiential education, operating more than 30 schools worldwide. OBHK was established in Hong Kong in 1970 to provide personal development programmes for local people to learn essential life skills and reach their maximum potential. It is the first and only experiential education organisation in Asia to be accredited by the internationally renowned Association for Experiential Education.

Outward Bound's mission is 'to help people discover and develop their potential to care for themselves, others and the world around them through challenging experiences in unfamiliar settings' Courses are designed to foster confidence, responsibility, leadership, teamwork, creative thinking, problem-solving skills and social responsibility. The organisation uses challenges in the outdoors to help participants gain insights and skills that can be applied to work and real-life situations. In 2016, more than 7,000 people joined its courses in Hong Kong.

OBHK is a not-for-profit organisation based in Sai Kung, with headquarters at Tai Mong Tsai and an island base on Wong Wan Chau. Its facilities and resources include a 67-foot sail training

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