The Club believes that playing sports not only boosts physical fitness, but can also create positive values and hope in the community. The Jockey Club Learn-to-Swim Programme for Primary Students is an 18-month long programme targeting around 16,500 non-swimming Hong Kong Primary One pupils who are not yet able to swim. This amounts to about a quarter of all Primary One students in Hong Kong. Free swimming courses will be provided by members of the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association. The objective is to provide them with sufficient basic training to learn survival skills and become confident regular swimmers.

As a further means of motivating the children to learn swimming, the Club’s Charities Trust collaborates with Ocean Park and adds marine conservation messages into its programme. Besides learning more about marine animals and the importance of marine conservation, participants also get the chance of an up-close encounter with the Park’s dolphins. An evidence-based evaluation will be conducted by The University of Hong Kong to assess the programme’s impact and provide better understanding of the swimming abilities and sports experience of Hong Kong’s primary school children.

To learn more about the project, please visit: www.jc-learntoswim.hk.