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Nicholas Sallnow-Smith, Chairman of The Link Management Limited (7th from right, front row), George Hongchoy, Chief Executive Officer of The Link Management Limited (6th from left, front row), Dr. York Chow Yat-ngok, Chairperson of Equal Opportunities Commission (7th from left, front row) and Irene Leung, Vice Chairperson of the HKCSS (6th from right, front row), together with representatives from the beneficiary organisations, at the 2014/15 The Link Together Initiatives Launch Ceremony.
Young performers from Youth Outreach, which has gained support from The Link Together Initiatives for the second consecutive year, perform at the ceremony.
| As The Link Together Initiatives (“the Initiatives”) marks its second year, a variety of charitable organisations have already benefited from the support it has provided. For the 2014/15 funding cycle, after careful consideration, the Initiatives’ Selection Committee and the Board of The Link REIT (“The Link”) selected nine community projects from nearly 150 eligible applications, with The Link donating nearly HK$7.5 million to support the organisations to serve communities in need.
The nine selected projects focus on different social issues. For example, the “Love Leads the Way - Care and Training of Eight Puppies and Public Education Programme” promotes social inclusion through the introduction and training of eight young guide dogs in Hong Kong as well as through education programmes held in schools and elderly community centres to raise public awareness of the visually impaired and guide dogs. “Goodbye Depression - The Mental Health Project for Elderly” will offer support to the community by providing screening and referral services as well as raising public concern over the problem of elderly depression.
The 2014/15 The Link Together Initiatives Launch Ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (17 November), where the awardees and their projects were announced (for project details, please refer to the appendix below). The ceremony was officiated by Nicholas Sallnow-Smith, Chairman of The Link Management Limited, George Hongchoy, Chief Executive Officer of The Link Management Limited, and Irene Leung, Vice Chairperson of the HKCSS.
Nicholas Sallnow-Smith said, “The Board of Directors of The Link strongly supports The Link Together Initiatives. The projects selected this year will serve a diverse group of people, and we believe they will take care of those in need.
“In addition to providing financial support, The Link will utilise its shopping centre network to offer free venues to the organisations to promote their projects and services. Continuing the success of last year’s programme, staff members of The Link will again take part as staff sponsors and volunteers in order to help with the projects. Those who took part in last year’s programme were highly engaged and satisfied.”
Striving to provide support to the community, The Link established The Link Together Initiatives in January 2013. The primary focus of the Initiatives is on supporting the elderly, children and youth. Through charitable donations and other forms of support, The Link supports non-profit organisations to promote community projects, so as to advocate sustainability and social inclusion in society. The Link contributes an amount up to 0.25% of its net property income of the previous financial year to the Initiatives. In 2013/14, a total budgeted fund of HK$10.42 million was donated to 10 community projects, serving a total of 80,000 beneficiaries.
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