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Forty nine organisations had been granted permission to raise funds during February, a Social Welfare Department spokesman said today (January 31).
The organisations will sell flags, badges or tokens, or place donation boxes in designated public places.
Special arrangements apply on February 3 and February 17 when three organisations will conduct flag sale on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and the New Territories respectively.
Flag selling hours are between 7am and 12.30pm.
Any organisation planning to hold activities involving collection of money or sale or exchange for donations of badges, tokens or similar articles in a public place for charitable purposes should apply for a public subscription permit from the department.
Activities covered by public subscription permits are listed on the department's website http://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_whatsnew/ and on the ESD Life website http://www.esdlife.com.
People are welcome to call the department's hotline at 2343 2255, or Social Welfare Department headquarters at 2832 4311 for enquiries during office hours.
The spokesman urged people to visit these websites or to call the hotline if there was any doubt regarding the fund-raising activities and he appealed to organisers to take precautions against any possible fraud.
The spokesman said that the flag day organisers were required to put on the money collection bags the logo or name of the organisation and mark "This flag day has been approved by the Social Welfare Department".
"Organisers of general fund-raising activities other than flag sale should prominently display the permit at the place where the fund-raising event is held. Proper identification, for example, name cards or tags should also be provided for staff and volunteers alike, who are directly involved in the fund-raising activities", the spokesman said.
He also advised organisations for flag days to prepare guidelines for volunteers, setting out the places and the schedule for fund-raising and the collection points for flag bags.
"Organisers should inform the Police in the case of loss of property, and seek their help when fraudulent acts, such as tampering with collection bags or unauthorised fundraising, are found," he said.
The spokesman also said that in the case of suspected fraudulent flag day activities, people should not make any donation and should immediately report the matter to the police.
The Government has promulgated the ˇ°Reference Guide on Best Practices for Charitable Fund-raising Activitiesˇ± for voluntary compliance of the charitable organisations. People may browse the Reference Guide on SWD homepage
http://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_controlofc/sub_referenceg/.
Attached please find a list of organisations for fund raising in February. The list only includes permits issued up to January 22, 2007.
Ends/Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 18:56
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