The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
The Club can trace its long tradition of donating to charitable causes back to at least 1915, but it was in the 1950s, as Hong Kong struggled to cope with post-war reconstruction and a massive influx of immigrants, that this role became integral to its operation. In 1955, the Club formally decided to devote its surplus each year to charity and community projects, and in 1959, a separate company, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (Charities) Ltd, was formed to administer donations. In 1993, a new entity was established, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, to reflect the evolving nature, scale and scope of donations. The Charities Trust is one of the world’s top ten charity donors.
The Trust’s substantial donations to the community are made possible by the Club’s unique integrated business model, which comprises racing and racecourse entertainment, responsible sports wagering and lottery, a membership club, and charities and community contribution. Approximately 90% of the Club’s annual operating surplus after tax is donated to the Trust, enabling it to play a significant role in the community’s development.
Working with the Government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community partners, the Trust is committed to improving the quality of life of the people of Hong Kong. As a philanthropic organisation in its own right, the Trust also proactively identifies and initiates projects that anticipate future community and social needs.
Five Priority Areas
Over many years, the Club has established its position as a major social partner in fostering a caring and inclusive community in Hong Kong. It accomplishes this through donations made to its community partners via The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust; various Trust-initiated projects; and by organising its own events that allow people to experience a healthy and vibrant lifestyle.
Today, the Trust contributes across various areas of social needs and focuses on five strategic areas:
Positive Ageing & Elderly Care
Youth Development & Poverty Alleviation
Healthy Community
Talent & Sector Development
Sports & Culture
Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum 2023
Philanthropy for Fairer Societies
Global wealth inequality is widening, showing no signs of respite. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the world’s richest 1% captured 67% of all new wealth. At the same time, we are seeing inflation outpacing wage growth, technological innovation driving wholesale changes to traditional job roles, climate change disproportionately impacting the vulnerable, and rapid urbanisation creating more uneven distribution of resources. These trends are exacerbating an already challenging scenario, leading to unfair economic and social development as well as frustration and discontent across generations.
The quest for fairer societies is not new, but it is now a globally interconnected quest. It is a global challenge that requires collective action and collaboration across borders. This calls for significant innovation in existing social systems and flexibility to adapt or create new institutions that drive towards fairer societies. It also calls for deeper global dialogue that values and learns from both the East and the West, and calls for us to reflect on different models of doing good through philanthropy.
Philanthropy, while small in terms of overall resource mobilisation, has enjoyed the largest degree of latitude to drive innovation and help build the linkages and institutions of tomorrow. Its capital is flexible, less risk-averse and not nearly as beholden to expectations of market or political cycles. The world has seen how the flexible, innovative, and catalytic nature of philanthropy can plug gaps in the socioeconomic ecosystem and how philanthropy can take a significant role in tackling the most challenging social issues in cross-sectoral collaboration with different actors.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (HKJCCT) is committed to supporting and advancing this agenda, and is pleased to once again host the Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum with the overarching theme: Philanthropy for Fairer Societies this coming September.
The Forum aims to convene discussion and debates among philanthropic, academic, business, social sector and government leaders that reimagine new service models, ultimately striving towards fairness of opportunities and outcomes, and exploring how 21st-century philanthropies could evolve in Asia and beyond.
PBC Forum 2023 is a by-invitation event.