CHAIRPERSON'SMESSAGE
T
he Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF)’s Mission
remains relevant to this day. Even so, our
programmes and services are constantly reviewed
for improvements. We believe these programmes and
services help our beneficiaries, both children and their
families, cope with cancer. We hope that these children
can realise their fullest potential andenjoy aquality of life
that is not limited by cancer.
The potential of our children can be seen in our
Back-to-School Bursary and Scholarship Award Scheme,
which had a record high of 79 award recipients in 2015.
This scheme, started in 2010 with a pioneer batch of
25 award recipients, recognises our children for their
academic efforts. For the first time, five youths received
the newly introduced bursary awards and scholarships for
university studies. Under another new category, known as
the Special Awards, 16 recipients were commended for
their good academic results at the national level including
thePSLE, GCE ‘N’, ‘O’ and ‘A’ Levels.
To broaden the scope of our Art Therapy service, we
piloted the Paint Pals Programme to connect children
and youths from different countries through images.
Through the exchange of artworks that reflected their
cancer experiences, Paint Pals aims to reduce feelings
of psychological isolation in beneficiaries during
treatment. Since its launch, eight CCF beneficiarieswere
successfully matched with children fromHong Kong and
Indonesiawhowere similarly affected by cancer.
Yet another new initiative introduced in 2015 was
the Legacy Building Programme. This Programme
aims to provide a positive and creative way for the
beneficiaries and their families tomakemeaning of their
tough circumstances and thereby facilitate resilience
in adversity. Through promoting family bonding and
communications, the programme alleviates caregivers’
distress and brings solace to bereaved families through
fondmemories and remembrance of loved ones.
Besides our programmes and services, our other
activities include raising awareness of childhood cancer.
Our flagship event, Hair for Hope, was especially
meaningful in 2015 as we commemorated Singapore’s
GoldenJubilee, donning tee-shirts inour national colours
with the SG50 logo. The thousands of supporters at the
Hair for Hopemain event provided an inspiring display of
community spirit in support of children and their families
affected by childhood cancer. Aside from themain event,
we recorded the highest number of satellite activities with
54 partnering organisations hosting Hair for Hope at their
premises. Overall, Hair for Hope 2015 saw more than
6,000 participants shaving for this cause.
In closing and on behalf of the CCF Management
Committee, I thank our donors, sponsors, volunteers,
partners, individuals and CCF staff who have been
instrumental in helping CCF to continually improve our
services and programmes. Your support of our children
and their families exemplifies our belief that life is more
than just receiving.
Mr HoChengHuat, Chairperson
Management Committee 2015
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