The UBS Hong Kong Open’s Charity Cup, which will take place at the Hong Kong Golf Club on Wednesday (October 28), will raise a minimum of HK$ 2.3 million for the three local groups chosen as beneficiaries by title sponsor UBS and the tournament’s Official Charity, Friends of Asia Hong Kong. This will be the UBS Hong Kong Open’s inaugural fundraising event, which is now sold out and will see 200 people taking part in a golf day at Fanling and hoping to win some amazing prizes, including golf getaways to Vancouver and Hawaii.
The money raised from entry fees for the UBS Hong Kong Open Charity Cup is over one million, which Friends of Asia Hong Kong will match, bringing the early totals of funds raised to a minimum of HK$ 2.3 million which will be shared equally by the three charities.
Playright Hospital Play Services provide treatment, support and comfort through play to ill children in local hospitals. The funds raised will go towards the continuing provision of Playright Hospital Play services at five of Hong Kong’s 13 public hospitals with pediatric wards.
InspiringHK Sports Foundation helps improve the social mobility of disadvantaged youth through the medium of sport and with funds raised here will start a GolfInspires program for youth in Fanling.
The Autism Partnership Foundation will use the funding to create several much-needed programs to help support children suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families including creating a Parent’s training program to assist parents with ASD children and launching a vital new free Intensive one-month Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) Therapy Treatment Program for low-income families in Hong Kong. This free service offers over 60 hours of direct intervention and will include parent education to help parents know how they can continue to teach their children when the month has ended.
The program is a first of its kind in Hong Kong. Currently ABA therapy is only provided by private practices and is very expensive. With the support of the UBS Hong Kong Open Charity Cup, APF will be able to increase the access to these services for low income families when their children most need them.
Caleb Chan, Founder of Friends of Asia HK, said: “We are delighted to be able to announce that we will raise a minimum of HK$ 2.3 million for our beneficiaries this year. The Playright Hospital Play Services, InspiringHK Sports Foundation and the Autism Partnership Foundation are three organisations which do amazing work to better the lives of Hong Kong’s youth, and to be able to help them with this vital funding is a real honour for us.
“I would like to thank everyone involved in making the UBS Hong Kong Open Charity Cup such a success. There are so many people who have volunteered their time and services for free in order to help us reach our fundraising goals for these charities. We thank everyone at UBS, the Hong Kong Golf Club, The European Tour and most importantly, the Hong Kong golfing community for their donations and participation in the inaugural Charity Cup.”
“UBS is delighted to support the UBS Hong Kong Open Charity Cup. The funds raised will be put to excellent use by three deserving charities that are making a real difference in the lives of Hong Kong’s youth. Our sponsorship of the Charity Cup reinforces our concerted effort to make the UBS Hong Kong Open, open for all – and to create a lasting legacy for the tournament,” said Ms Kathryn Shih, Head of UBS Wealth Management APAC.
Kenneth Lam, Captain of the Hong Kong Golf Club, said: “It is a great pleasure for us to be able to offer our facilities to host the UBS Hong Kong Open Charity Cup this year. As soon as we were approached to stage the competition, we wanted to be involved in helping these three wonderful organisations. We hope that everyone who plays at Fanling on Wednesday will have an unforgettable experience and that together we can raise as much money as possible for these great causes.”
Rights Free Photos:
Photo 1: Mr Caleb Chan, Founder of Friends of Asia Hong Kong(in the middle), Mr Bjoern Waespe, Global Head of Sponsorship, UBS(third from the right) and Mr Kenneth Lam, Captain of Hong Kong Golf Club(second from the right) were with representatives from three local charities.
Photograph by Daniel Wong
Photo 2: 2015 UBS Hong Kong Open winner Justin Rose was pictured with Mr Caleb Chan, Founder of Friends of Asia Hong Kong(on the right), Ms Kathryn Shih, Head of UBS Wealth Management APAC(second on the left)and Mr Kenneth Lam, Captain of Hong Kong Golf Club(on the left) and representatives from three local charities.
Photograph by Daniel Wong
