Basketball court party venue for charity that catches kids at risk of slipping through net

Youth Outreach, an organisation that assists at-risk youngsters, celebrated its 21st anniversary on the basketball court of its centre in Sai Wan Ho.

The event, which featured a performance by its very own School of Hip Hop, was also a time to look back at the youth service's triumphs and forward to its challenges ahead.

One 24-year-old identified only as Fa told how the non-profit organisation changed her life after she started smoking, drinking, using drugs and self-mutilating in secondary school.

She ran away from home and was headed for disaster until a teacher encouraged her to join Youth Outreach's "Adventure-Based Counselling" course. She has since been a volunteer.

Youth Outreach's patron, the chief executive's wife Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee, spoke of her concerns about a growing trend for children to stay out on the streets all night. "This situation makes me very worried. They are all very young, approximately 10 years old, and the youngest age group is around six to seven years old."

Thanks mainly to private donations, Youth Outreach services such as a new 24-hour centre for teenagers called The Hang Out and an overnight outreach teen-friendly truck called the Street Rover, there is hope for these youngsters.