Charities & community

Originally established as an exclusive club for people interested in racing, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has provided entertainment and promoted horse racing since the early colonial days. But the Club has also established an increasingly important role in charitable and community works in Hong Kong. Starting with a donation to a charitable organisation in 1914, the Club responded to the needs of society by providing funds to various beneficiaries each year.

Following the war and several years of recovery during the 1950s, the Club, under the leadership of our Chairman Donovan Benson, established The Hong Kong Jockey Club (Charities) Ltd to oversee the disbursement of our surplus funds to Hong Kong people in need. By 1959, the Club was taking an active role in charitable works. Often, the Stewards of the Club would consult the Government to ensure the funds went to the most needy, thereby developing a new mode of charities designed to serve the community.

The legacy is a host of clinics, swimming pools, schools, hospitals and community buildings that have contributed to the rapid development of the city. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Club fostered a number of large-scale projects in the fields of sports, arts, leisure, recreation, youth development, education, social service and medical care in further response to the dramatic changes in society.Examples are Hong Kong Sports Institute; Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts; Ocean Park; and Summer Youth Programme. 

In the 1990s, the Club established The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to reflect its non-profit business model and shape a more proactive form of charity funding. The Trust is run under the leadership of the Club Stewards. It works with the Government and non-profit agencies to provide a better quality of life for Hong Kong people, and responds to the needs of society.

Looking back over the history of the last century, the Jockey Club has played an integral role in Hong Kong’s development, serving every sector of the community.