Thematic Sponsorship Scheme to Support Family-related Initiatives opens for application

The following is issued on behalf of the Family Council:

     The Home Affairs Bureau and the Family Council today (June 29) invited eligible organisations to apply for the Thematic Sponsorship Scheme to Support Family-related Initiatives. The deadline for application is August 28.
 
     The themes of the Scheme are "Divorce Education", "Step and Split Families" and "Preventing and Resolving Family Conflicts/Disputes". The Scheme aims to provide one-off sponsorship in the form of a matching fund to support non-profit making and worthwhile family-related initiatives under the themes, which are able to meet the objectives of raising community awareness of family core values and the importance of families, creating and promoting a pro-family environment, and promoting family well-being.  
 
     There are two categories of projects under the Scheme, namely Ordinary Projects and Seed Projects. The Ordinary Projects should be of a considerable scale and bring about a more significant and sustainable impact for the community, while the Seed Projects are for small-scale projects with innovative elements that are worthy of support.
 
     The sponsorship will be disbursed in the form of a matching fund. The ratio of the matching fund is capped at 1:2, that is the Government will support up to two-thirds of the total expenses for implementing the proposed project while the applicant organisation has to provide funding from its own sources and/or from other non-governmental contributions or sponsorship to meet at least one-third of the relevant total actual expenditure of the project. On the other hand, to encourage an applicant organisation to collaborate with a research organisation to conduct evaluation research to collect evidence-based findings of an approved project, additional funding will be provided to cover the research-related expenses of the project, which will be supported up to a ceiling of 50 per cent of the total budget (excluding the research-related expenses) for implementing the same project or $250,000, whichever is the lower. 
 
     Organisations interested in applying for the Scheme should submit the completed application form together with all required documents and information to the Secretariat of the Family Council, 13/F, West Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong, or email the form and materials to secretariat_family_council@hab.gov.hk by 6pm on August 28 this year.
 
     Please visit the website of the Family Council (www.familycouncil.gov.hk) for details of the Scheme. For enquiries, please contact the Secretariat of the Family Council at 3509 7045.