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Grant to foster community bonds through sports extended to schools

SINGAPORE — A government grant that supports a grassroots initiative for people to organise sports activities for their communities will be extended another year.

The People’s Association Community Sports Clubs Friendship Grant will be extended to include schools, which may now apply for it to encourage greater participation among students, teachers and residents. TODAY File Photo

The People’s Association Community Sports Clubs Friendship Grant will be extended to include schools, which may now apply for it to encourage greater participation among students, teachers and residents. TODAY File Photo

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SINGAPORE — A government grant that supports a grassroots initiative for people to organise sports activities for their communities will be extended another year.

Mr Ng Chee Meng, Education Minister (Schools), announced this at a Community Sports Night award event on Saturday (Oct 14).

The People’s Association Community Sports Clubs Friendship Grant was also extended to include schools, which may now apply for it to encourage greater participation among students, teachers and residents.

As it is with individuals now, students and teachers may get up to S$2,000 in grant for every project to organise sporting activities in their neighbourhood, with the aim to boost interaction between the students and residents, and to allow the students to hone their planning abilities.

This added provision was given due to “overwhelming response” to the grant, which was rolled out in January. At that time, it was to encourage reidents to initiate and organise community sports in their neighbourhood. So far, more than 25 such projects have been organised by residents for residents, the People’s Association said in its press statement.

To take the initiatives further, the association and its Community Sports Clubs (CSCs) will focus on engaging youth and getting them to integrate with the community physically through e-sports (cyber sports), or competitive gaming.

Interest groups will be formed to encourage youth who are interested in e-sports to come together and exchange tips and skills, and to make new friends along the way, the association said.

At the awards night on Saturday, 30 Community Sports Clubs received the Community Sports Club Awards.

Bukit Batok East, Pasir Ris West, Punggol North and Yio Chu Kang CSCs won the top platinum awards for their initiatives.

Five CSCs took the Community Engagement Awards, for running innovative programmes.

Tampines West CSC, for example, organised a “50-hour non-stop run” that offered a twist to the rules of standard marathons. Participants may take up to slightly more than two days to complete 10 laps around the Bedok Reservoir — each lap being about 4.3km — which would add up to a full marathon’s distance of about 42.5km. This gave residents a chance to be a “marathon finisher”.

CSC Council chairman Lawrence Ng said: “(The winning CSCs) have invested a substantial amount of time and effort in developing programmes that foster community bonding and enhance social cohesion... they went the extra mile to involve residents in a participatory and inclusive manner, bringing people of all ages, races, and estates together.”

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