Singtel Charity Golf raises S$700,000 for children with special needs

Singapore

THE annual Singtel Charity Golf on Wednesday (Oct 27) has raised S$700,000 for children and youth with special needs. The pared-down flagship fundraising event of the Singtel Touching Lives Fund (STLF) saw over 100 golfers from Singtel and its business partners - whicn include Samsung and Ericsson - tee off at the Tanah Merah Country Club in support of STLF's beneficiaries of 6 adopted special-education schools.

Aileen Tan, chairman of the Singtel Touching Lives Fund and group chief people and sustainability officer of Singtel, said: "We are carrying on with fundraising this year through with a much scaled-down charity golf with fewer flights due to Covid.

"We want to keep all players safe and socially distanced, and despite the smaller event this year . . . their contributions have enabled us to proceed with and reach our fundraising goals, that will go towards supporting programmes at our adopted

special-education schools to help children and youth achieve their full potential and lead meaningful lives."

The funds raised from the charity golf event will cover primary, secondary and post-secondary level programmes at STLF's 6 adopted schools - APSN Chaoyang School, APSN Tanglin School, APSN Delta Senior School, Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore School, Eden School and MINDS Lee Kong Chian Gardens School.

These funds will be disbursed in partnership with the Community Chest.

Stanley Tang, chief executive officer of APSN, said: "We are grateful for Singtel's consistent commitment towards supporting our cause of empowering the lives of our special-needs children and youth, and enabling them to lead dignified, fulfilling and independent lives."

Besides fundraising efforts through the STLF, which has raised over S$48 million since 2002, Singtel set up the Singtel Enabling Innovation Centre in 2015 to train persons with disabilities in information and communications technology (ICT) and contact centre skills to support their transition to work.

The telco is also a founding member of the Singapore Business Network on DisAbility, which helps to promote the equitable inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace.