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The Director of Social Welfare (DSW), Ms Carol Yip, today (December 14) joined the Social Welfare Department (SWD) Choir at the Carol Singing Festival 2014 organised by the Child Development Matching Fund (CDMF) to raise funds for disadvantaged children.
Speaking at the event, Ms Yip said that the CDMF aims to support the development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and hopes to enable them to eventually leave poverty behind. Since its launch in October 2010, the CDMF has provided a total of $8 million in matching funds to 26 Child Development Fund (CDF) projects, benefiting approximately 1,700 children and teenagers. In the past few years, the carol singing festival has gained enthusiastic support from various sectors in the community, raising over $12 million for the Savings Matching Fund for children.
"The Government set up the $300-million CDF in 2008 to help reduce inter-generational poverty. It was announced in the 2014 Policy Address that an additional $300 million would be injected into the fund to ensure its sustainable development. The total sum of $600 million will be sufficient to benefit some 20,000 disadvantaged children. With the CDF now having an increasing number of participants, the CDMF will seek to raise more funds in order to help more children and teenagers in need," she said.
Ms Yip appealed to people from different sectors to show more concern for the developmental needs of children and youngsters while celebrating Christmas.
The CDMF, a community-based organisation promoting child development initiatives, is a vital strategic partner of the CDF. The CDMF consolidates resources in the community and by raising savings matching funds helps CDF participants to achieve their savings targets, and hence take the first step to leaving poverty. A volunteer will also be arranged for each participant as their mentor.
The SWD Choir, which took part in today's event, was founded in 1998 and comprises SWD staff members from different ranks and grades in various districts. The choir enjoys participating in various charity performances and volunteer work and is committed to serving the underprivileged and promoting greater social inclusion of persons with and without disabilities. The choir has also been encouraging members to participate in volunteer work to help build a more harmonious society through love and care.
Ends/Sunday, December 14, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:18
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