Welcome to Charity!
We are thrilled to announce that, with the support of over 80 generous donors, our recent Hong Kong 4 Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC) Fundraiser raised HK$250,000 to help disadvantaged children in Hong Kong through the power of expressive arts therapy. These funds will have an incredible impact on our 2022 programming – helping us to better the lives of even more children during especially difficult times in the region.
Over Chinese New Year, Tanya Bennett did the unimaginable by running over 200 kilometres non-stop through very trying conditions – making it to the Hong Kong Trail before retiring due to an ankle injury. Her strength and determination are extremely admirable, having continued for over 20 hours after sustaining the injury. We are very proud of Tanya and what she has achieved – both in her epic run and in what she has helped raise for The Make It Better Programme (MIB).
The HK4TUC is an annual run spanning all four of Hong Kong’s long-distance trails (Maclehose Trail, Wilson Trail, Hong Kong Trail, and Lantau Trail) and deemed one of the toughest ultramarathons on the planet.
The challenge took on special significance for Tanya who, having lived in Hong Kong for over ten years, will be moving to Vietnam later this month. In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Tanya said she sees the challenge as “one final, really long, really hard love letter to Hong Kong… It’s going to be as emotionally hard as physically hard, but that’s the point.” Having taken on the challenge and unfortunately becoming injured on the third trail, Tanya described the run as being a “beautiful, fun and extremely challenging couple of days on the mountains”.
“A large part of it is saying goodbye to Hong Kong, I’ve been here for years and most of my friends here are through trail running, so this is a way to close the chapter.” Read Tanya’s full profile in the SCMP here.
Not only has Tanya taken on this incredible challenge, she has also helped SAF raise a quarter of a million Hong Kong Dollars for The Make It Better Programme. Tanya has been a SAF Ambassador for over a decade. An artist by trade, she has led a number of workshops for our beneficiaries and is also the creator of the characters that feature in our Stationery Island Book Series.
When speaking about running, Tanya notes that being out in nature “helps with anxiety and mental health. When I’m out there I’m just so happy. Without thinking about it, life is boiled down to its simplest parts.” Tanya and the team at SAF share the belief that the same benefits can be applied to art creation. We’re so pleased that the funds raised will go towards MIB’s expressive arts workshops and enable more children throughout Hong Kong to benefit from lessons designed to build self-esteem, confidence, self-awareness and interpersonal skills.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to this fundraiser. A special thanks goes to Gibson Dunn, who generously contributed HKD40,000.
Tanya would also like to share the following words with our valued donors: “I would like to once again thank each and every one of you who donated to the HK4TUC Fundraiser for The Sovereign Art Foundation. These funds are more critical than ever in light of the current Covid situation in Hong Kong and will make an enormous difference to the children that they benefit.”
To view the fundraising page, click here.
