LEISURE, CULTURAL AND SPORTS SERVICES

2014 HKFYG Jockey Club Hong Kong International a cappella Festival

Celebrating its 5th anniversary, the 2014 HKFYG Jockey Club Hong Kong International a cappella Festival delivered 37 exhilarating events in a condensed three-week period in March and April 2014. World acclaimed a cappella groups including The Idea of North from Australia , Musae from US, The Sons of Pitches from UK and JarnzΩ from Japan, together with ambassadors Robynn and Kendy and Justin Lo , and the Federation’s very own Hong Kong Melody Makers and Hong Kong Youth Dance plus students-singers and a cappella performers in Hong Kong all joined together to give everyone a wonderful experience. More than 20,000 people attended the musical and educational concerts, theatrical production and workshops. The Festival was generously supported by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

a cappella Education

Continuing on the great success of a cappella education, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust agreed to sponsor exclusively the HKFYG Jockey Club a cappella Education Programme spanning from 2013 to 2016. Programmes include in-school workshops and demonstrations for students; training, performing and socialising platforms for a cappella singers and educators; along with supporting services like a library and equipment rental.

In addition to events and services, “app-cappella” mobile app featuring a cappella news updates and rehearsal tools was also developed under the programme.

Hong Kong Street Dance Camp 2013

To raise the profile of street dance and enrich the diversity of dance culture in Hong Kong, the Federation and The Hong Kong Arts Development Council co-presented the biggest international street dance camp in Hong Kong from 6 to 8 December 2013 at the Federation’s Sai Kung camp. The camp invited internationally renowned Hip Hop creator, Loose Joint who represents the Elite Force Crew from Brooklyn, New York. Other overseas masters such as Ken Swift, Terry Wright, Shan S., Tony GoGo, Jr Boogaloo and Nahoko Wright also joined hands to deliver professional training and a seminar to the campers with 20 local top dance tutors were invited to be the group leaders. The three-day camp attracted over 200 local and overseas participants. All street dance lovers had the opportunity to share their passion and enthusiasm.

HKFYG Hong Kong Melody Makers

In January 2014 The Melody Makers, began their 9th season with an educational concert called, “a cappella Time Tunnel”. In addition to various other performances and participation in concerts and events, The Melody Makers junior chorus toured Taipei in July 2013 where they performed with other professional groups. The Melody Makers were also invited to take part in the Shenzhen Bay International Fringe Festival in November 2013.

Hong Kong Youth Theatre

Hong Kong Youth Theatre staged its premiere performance at Youth Square on 7 April 2013. “Backpacker” and “Grassroots” were two original created plays written by the talent members. The theme of the two plays reflected the attitude of youngsters on love, lifestyle and a sense of belonging towards community.

Tsuen Wan Indoor Sports Centre

The Tsuen Wan Indoor Sports Centre is a joint venture of the Hong Kong Housing Society and the Federation. Entirely self-financing, the centre provides high quality facilities and a wide range of sports, recreational and cultural activities for the public. Over the past year, the courses and training activities organised had an attendance of 19,176.

The objective of the Centre is to promote a healthy life style, and encouraging youth to try a wide range of courses and training activities. Some of which are highlighted below:

Music and Dance Training: In order to develop talent and creativity, a wide range of musical and dancing activities, including a series of “Music with U” was offered.

Adventure Training: This emphasised on Climbing Courses for children and young people, as well as high quality adventure training. The annual Sports Climbing Competition was also held.

Growth Enhancement Training: This is to offer different training courses to strengthen integrated competence and potential. Volunteers also received training to help them improve as helpers and instructors.

Jockey Club Sai Kung Outdoor Training Camp

The Phase III Redevelopment construction work was completed in August 2013, with the addition of six Dormitory Blocks, a Canteen Block with restaurant and café, a Sky Garden, a Platform Deck, a Lounge and Gift Shop. The interior and exterior decoration works then took place. In order to harmonise the Phase II and Phase III dormitory blocks, the external walls of Phase II were repainted, and interior renovation of guestrooms and replacement of worn out TV sets were carried out. In the landscape design, the aim was to enhance the campsite’s natural and green environment by preserving the precious native “Incense Tree” in its original place, planting young trees along the slopes, hanging container-plants along the railings of the footpaths and creating a green roof at the Sky Garden. The plan is to continue to cultivate a green environment and lifestyle.

There were 76,852 campers over the 2013-14 period, and with the expansion of camp capacity to 460 bed spaces and 250 day campers, it is hoped that over 150,000 campers will use the camp in the coming year.

Lamma Youth Camp

Located on a hill top, the Camp offers a series of unique adventure training programmes, conducted at the adjacent outdoor area. An adventure instructor training course was organised, providing intensive training for participants who then went on to become adventure programme instructors in the Camp. With funding support from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, an improvement project for the pump-house was completed in early 2014 to ensure a steady water supply. The Camp also assisted in hosting the NEIGHBOURHOOD First Reunion Lunch of the Islands District before the Chinese New Year for those from Lamma Island.

Tai Mei Tuk Outdoor Activities Centre

The Tai Mei Tuk Outdoor Activities Centre, located near the main dam of Plover Cove, is well protected by the surrounding mountains and is an ideal venue for water sports training. Taking advantage of this privileged location, the 1st HKFYG Canoe Competition was held in October with about 80 young people participating. Apart from the regular water sports activities, special activities are also organised with a newly equipped Dragon Boat. This includes a Dragon Boat fun-day, Rower Certificate Course and event organisation training course. With a number of participants passing the assessment course to become Dragon Boat instructors, more certificate course will be organised in coming year.

Stanley Outdoor Activities Centre

The Stanley Outdoor Activities Centre, situated along the beach in Stanley Bay, is a good place for enjoying leisure pursuits, as well as experiencing water sports and group life. Land-based and sea-based activities were organised throughout the year and the “Stanley Bay Challenge” continued to be the most popular programme. This two-day programme mainly targets youngsters who are required to walk on a trail and complete a couple of tasks with a set time.

Zhongshan Sanxiang Youth Training Centre

The Centre, located at Sanxiang Town of Zhongshan City at Guangdong Province, is a unique camp operated in mainland China. Apart from organising study tours for secondary students to understand the local industry as well as provide voluntary services to underprivileged school children, small group leisure tours and individual traveller packages were also introduced. In line with the new packages, the Centre offers a one-stop service, including arrangement of transportation, accommodation and meals which most campers found user-friendly. The Federation will continue to explore places of interests and activities in Zhongshan city and create new package programmes for different categories of campers.