District Arts and Cultural Activities Venue Sponsorship

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department is supportive of district cultural and arts organisations participating in creative activities related to performing, visual and literary arts.  Non-profit-making district arts organisations of North District which have hired the facilities of the North District Town Hall for organising arts and cultural activity in direct promotion of arts and culture for the district, if eligible, can apply for venue sponsorship to waive the hire charges and ticketing services charges.

 

Eligibility

The applicant organization and the proposed activity should meet the following requirements:

Organization
(i)	The applicant organization should be able to produce documentary proof that it is a non-profit making district cultural and arts organization with promotion of culture and art as one of its objectives. It should have been established for at least one year in the district where it should be active with good organizational ability.
(ii)	If the applicant organization has unsatisfactory record of activity with the Department, its application for venue sponsorship within one year after the unsatisfactory record will not be considered. (Note: In considering the application, the Department may check with the Home Affairs Department or other concerned government departments regarding the eligibility of the applicant organization as necessary.)
Activity
(i)	The proposed activity should be an activity of culture and art, with its objective and nature directly related to the promotion of performing, visual and literary arts in the district.
(ii)	The activity should be open for public participation.
(iii)	If, apart from members of the applicant organization, artists and members of other organizations are participating in the activity, not more than half of the activity should have the participation of non-members.
(iv)	In case of a jointly organized activity, the co-organizer should also be a non-profit making cultural and arts organization in the district, and should also be able to produce documentary proof of such status.
(v)	The proposed activity/training course should be of a scale similar to those it previously organized. The number of participants should also be at a level acceptable to the Department.
(vi)	If a training course proposed to be organized by the applicant organization received venue sponsorship, the fee paid for joining the course should be lower than similar courses with no venue sponsorship. Each session of the training course should not exceed two hours.
Finance
(i)	The applicant organization should attach budget estimates when submitting application. The Department will consider if the revenue and the expenditure of the activity as submitted by the applicant organization are reasonable. The activity should not have any budget surplus.
(ii)	The applicant organisation shall submit a statement of account signed by its chairman and secretary/treasurer within one month after the conclusion of the activity. If the statement of account shows that there is a surplus, the activity is not eligible for venue sponsorship and the applicant organisation should pay in full the hire charges of the venue and applicable URBTIX charges in accordance with the prevailing Terms and Conditions of Hire and Scales of Hire Charges of respective venue and Terms and Conditions for the Use of URBTIX.

 

How to Apply

(i)	Completed application form together with documentary proof (e.g., Certificate of Registration of Societies, constitution, tax exemption certificate issued by the Inland Revenue Department), budget estimates and information about past activities organised should be submitted to the respective office specified below. The application form should be signed by the chairman/president of the applicant organization.
(ii)	Application should be made at least 4 months before the allocated date or the first month of the activity.
(iii)	The applicant organization may submit venue sponsorship applications for different types of activities proposed to be held in the same financial year. For activities of the same type held within the 12 months of the same financial year, no more than 2 applications for venue sponsorship may be lodged. The second application from the same organization will not be considered by the Department until a statement of account for the first activity has been received.

 

Conditions for Sponsorship

(i)	An organization receiving sponsorship is required to seek the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's prior consent before accepting sponsorship or donations from other sources. As a general rule, commercial sponsorship or advertisement in good taste is considered acceptable. However, no sponsorship from tobacco companies shall be accepted. Liquor sponsorship shall not be accepted for activities whose target participants are children or young people.
(ii)	The Leisure and Cultural Services Department shall not be liable for any claims, demands or liabilities in relation to the organization of the activities.

 

For Enquiries and Application Form

Address：	Performance Venues Office (New Territories East) Leisure and Cultural Services Department Sha Tin Town Hall 1 Yuen Wo Road, Sha Tin Hong Kong
Enquiries:	(852) 2694 2562
Fax:	(852) 2693 4878
Email:	stth@lcsd.gov.hk