Newsroom

The action is not over for the week at Fanling, even though the dust has already begun to settle from the main event.

Wednesday sees attention turn to the first staging of the UBS Hong Kong Open Charity Cup – held over the exact same course that tested some of the greats of the game – and the reaction to the initiative has been so positive, organisers are already looking forward to next year’s edition and how they can further spread the good will.

For the three charities set to benefit from the amateur event - the Playright Hospital Play Service, the Autism Partnership Foundation and the InspiringHK Sport Foundation – extras fund means extra help. And extra help means extra hope.

“The great thing for us is we are now able to kick-start programmes we have only dreamt about previously and that is directly because of the money this even will raise for us,” says Toby Mountjoy founder of the Autism Partnership Foundation.

The money raised by the Charity Cup will spread the reach of his organization into the community, covering aspects such as parent training.  Each dollar being raised will be matched by the Friends of Asia organization which is co-ordinating the event.  At the time of writing the total was up to HK$2.3 million.

“It will be a first for this kind of programme in Hong Kong,” says Mountjoy. “Plus we will able to expand the amount of therapy time we can give children and expand into areas such as underprivileged families in Hong Kong who previously have not received much support.”

InspiringHK Sport Foundation had kids skipping rope inside the spectators village on opening day to drum up attention to what was going on. Think of it as play with a purpose – just the message Kathy Wong wants Hongkongers to hear.

“Sometimes people don’t recognize how important play is, especially when they are hospitalized,” says Wong, executive director of the Playright Children’s Play Association.

“They feel like a stranger in a strange place. So we are their with specialists working with the children, helping release stress and pain, and getting the community to understand the work we do will be helped by the support and attention we receive through the Charity Cup.”

The initiative is part of the expansion of activities surrounding the Hong Kong Open, according to tournament sponsors UBS.

“The Charity Cup is one of many community orientated activities we have instituted in 2015 as part of our drive to make the UBS Hong Kong Open open for all Hong Kong,” he said.

Image source : http://www.scmp.com/sport/golf/article/1871878/ubs-hong-kong-open-charity-cup-ready-spread-good-will