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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

videos launched on the day of the event to encourage the public to exercise at home. There were over 15,000 viewers that day.

Hong Kong Games

The biennial Hong Kong Games, due to be held this year, was postponed for a year due to COVID-19. Athlete selection for the games was also postponed for a year.

Sports Funding

Recurrent Government Funding

The government promotes sports development in Hong Kong by encouraging sports in the community, supporting elite sports and projecting the city as a centre for major international sports events. In 2019-20, over 80 per cent of the $5.8 billion in overall government spending on sports development went into community-level sports promotion.

Arts and Sport Development Fund

The sports portion of the Arts and Sport Development Fund is a major funding source for sports development in Hong Kong. It supports athletes' preparations for and participation in major international competitions; the local hosting of international sports events by NSAs and other sports organisations; the upgrading of school and district programmes to boost community participation; and the development of local football, team sports, and one-off initiatives that are important for the development and promotion of sport in Hong Kong. In 2019-20, the fund approved $180 million for 160 sports projects.

Sports Subvention Scheme

The LCSD subsidises NSAs and other sports organisations in sports promotion and development. In 2020, subventions totalling about $409 million were allocated to 60 NSAs and 24 other sports organisations, which held 4,572 programmes for 287,060 participants. Local and international events staged by the subvented NSAs included the World Hong Kong Luminous Dragon and Lion Dance Championship 2020, Hong Kong Annual Badminton Championships 2020, Hong Kong Annual Shooting Championships 2020, Hong Kong Men's Invitational Tri-Nations Netball Tournament, Hong Kong Women Snooker Open Championship 2020 and Hong Kong Rhythmic Gymnastics Open Championships 2020-21.

To enhance the NSAs' corporate governance, the LCSD organises seminars to raise awareness among NSAs office bearers and management staff of their roles and responsibilities in effective board practices, strategic planning and risk management. Almost 250 NSAs representatives attended the seminars in 2020.

Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation (Main Fund)

The Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation (Main Fund) supports NSAs, district sports associations, schools and NGOs to buy equipment and build facilities for physical education and sporting activities. It places emphasis on generating long-term benefits, encouraging the purposeful use of leisure by young people and promoting sports in the community.

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