25 NGOs embark on training course to secure funding through Operation Santa Claus scheme
Project proposals from 25 organisations include helping boy victims and children of prisoners
From helping boys who suffered sexual violence to enabling children of prisoners to visit their parents in jail, a total of 25 non-governmental organisations are hoping their project proposals can win up to HK$1 million of funding in an NGO mentorship programme this year.
The 10-month training course started in March. It is sponsored by Swiss bank UBS and Operation Santa Claus (OSC), which is organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK.
Participants take training courses in subjects such as communications, planning and resource management taught by trainers from Chinese University, the media, the business sector and fellow NGOs.
UBS staff members will serve as mentors in financial planning, management and marketing during the course, which ends in December. Near the end of the programme, NGO participants need to draw up their own project proposals and pitch the plans to a judging panel at a presentation.
The winning project will receive funding of up to HK$1 million from OSC for the implementation of the project.
Over the past 15 years, UBS has been OSC's biggest donor, contributing a total of HK$17.7 million.
Linda Wong Sau-yung, executive director of Rainlily, an organisation that helps victims of sexual violence, said she participated in the project because she wanted to learn how to develop a small NGO more efficiently.