#weinfluence
I strongly believe that every person and business should actively contribute to making a positive impact on their local community and drive change for good.
At Sinclair, we do this through our Work for Good programme that sees us offering a significant proportion of agency time to pro-bono projects with NGOs and charities. We use our influence to power change, with the belief that positive actions have exponential impact.
Year on year, we actively seek and select NGOs and non-profit organisations that are dedicated to building a better future in the communities in which we live, work and play.
We also support initiatives that foster cultural development and exchanges, and are passionate about supporting the creative communities through sponsoring organisations and events that encourage growth in this important industry sector.
We encourage all members of team Sinclair to actively take up charity work. In fact, we ask team members to suggest causes that are important to them. We develop a culture where work for good is as important as our paying clients through management support and encouragement.
We feel strongly in teaching our team the magic life skill that doing good makes you feel good.
Contribution to Community
Over the last year the Sinclair team partnered with eight organisations who inspired us through their diligent efforts to create positive impact on our community. Sinclair has been recognised as a “Caring Company” in acknowledgement of our work. Here is a recount of our year in action.
Ocean Recovery Alliance
Storm drains are one of the largest conduits for carrying rubbish from land to sea. At a time when Hong Kong has experienced unprecedented levels of rubbish washed up on coastlines and beaches, the need to inform and educate the public of the detrimental effects of littering onto streets and into storm grates is more important than ever. We worked with Ocean Recovery Alliance to raise awareness of this city issue through their public art project Grate Art. The project engaged local artists to create hand-painted tiles with colourful educational reminders which were cemented on public streets. By generating awareness of the project’s cause, a stronger position was established for the project to be implemented across Hong Kong and eventually replicated globally. Sinclair cemented partnerships to amplify the project’s mouthpiece and grow audience reach, in particular the opportunity for Grate Art to be part of local art events, festivals and fairs. We successfully spread awareness of the project to Hong Kongers through securing +30 articles and interviews in English and Chinese publications, including an impactful front page of South China Morning Post and features in The Standard, Apple Daily, Oriental Daily and Sing Tao.
We also work with Ocean Recovery Alliance’s initiative Kids Ocean Day every year. The beach event involves hundreds of local kids as they team together to create an aerial human art piece with an environmental message which can be seen from the sky. The activation was an impactful reminder from the young community in Hong Kong of the pertinent issue of ocean pollution, in particular the rise of rubbish found in our waters. For last year’s event, our calls to action via media channels helped to rally over 800 children to sign up as volunteers. With international media coverage on the day from CNBC and CNN reaching global audiences.
The Other Hundred for G.I.F.T
The Other Hundred Educators is a project initiative by the Global Institute of Tomorrow that allows readers to step into a world beyond stereotypes. Third in its series, the book features 100 unconventional photo stories that add a layer of knowledge and wisdom to the understanding of education, and is now available worldwide. To announce book sales, the project included a panel discussion and photo exhibition featuring works from the latest series. The challenge was to keep ideas fresh with a minimal budget and create discussion about how to better provide the types of education that people really need around the world. Sinclair created a talk of the town activation generating conversation and buzz surrounding The Other Hundred Educators, securing high-quality print, online and social coverage with a reach of 2.3 million and over 5 percent increase across their social media channels.
Great Chefs of Hong Kong for Heep Hong Society
For the past six years, Sinclair have supported Heep Hong Society’s headline annual event, The Great Chefs of Hong Kong. 2017 was the 25th year of the event, which brings together 48 of Hong Kong’s leading hotels and restaurants to serve gourmet delights in support of children with special needs. More than 1,000 guests enjoyed the sell-out event, the funds of which go directly to Parents Resource Centres which provide a timely and valuable service to over 4,000 families every year. With over 150 articles and a reach of over 17 million, Sinclair ensured Hong Kong was aware that this was the foodie event of the year.
PAPINEE World
A collaboration between PAPINEE, the global Children’s Storytelling Social Enterprise and Pearl Lam Galleries, this was an amazing multi-sensory art exhibition that inspired Hong Kong’s children to be tomorrow’s global citizens. A community activation that gave hope to underprivileged and disadvantaged local children, the fully immersive experience magically transported kids to different cities around the world during the 2016/17 holiday season. With over 100 media articles, 20 supporting organisations and funded visits for over 40 local schools and children’s charities, PAPINEE World was a huge success.
The Royal Ballet of Cambodia
Sinclair was the PR partner for the Hong Kong debut of The Royal Ballet of Cambodia, working with Her Royal Highness Princess Norodom Buppha Devi and His Royal Highness Prince Sisowath Tesso to bring the performance to Hong Kong in August 2017. Inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Heritage, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia is a traditional dance form that dates back over 1,000 years, descended directly from the Royal Court of The Kingdom of Cambodia. Previously having graced Marseille, New York and Monaco, the goal of the Hong Kong debut was to raise cultural awareness of Cambodia in Hong Kong to create a long-term atmosphere of unity between the two communities. Our work helped to drive a sell-out event, and share the message of hope with coverage in 80 media publications including significant features in AM730, Hong Kong Economic Journal and SCMP’s Post Magazine – gaining a reach of over 10 million.
Christian Action’s Centre for Refugees
Hong Kong’s only drop-in community centre for people forced to flee their homes, Centre for Refugees has a long history of helping this vulnerable sector of society live with hope and dignity for the future. Centre for Refugees, who form part of Christian Action, delved into their photographic archives dating as far back as the 1930s to present the story of this lesser known side of Hong Kong, exploring the city’s history as a place of refuge. The 10-day exhibition, Under Our Shelter, took place across two prominent locations in Hong Kong, and was supported by a number of corporate donors. Our work helped to raise awareness of the exhibition as well as the wider mission of the Centre, garnering coverage in major English and Chinese online publications in Hong Kong, as well as a long-form story in the SCMP which was complemented by a double-page photo spread in the paper’s Saturday edition on the opening weekend of the exhibition.
Justice Centre Hong Kong
We have just begun work with Justice Centre with the objective of changing the local perception towards refugees and garnering sympathy for their work with the ambitious goal of driving legislative change in this arena. Launched in 2014, Justice Centre Hong Kong is a non-profit human rights organisation working fearlessly to protect the rights of Hong Kong’s most vulnerable forced migrants: refugees, other people seeking protection, survivors of torture, human trafficking and forced labour. Sinclair has kicked off the integrated strategy with the Hong Kong Human Rights Arts Prize campaign with notable features already in SCMP Post Magazine, The Loop, and Metropop.
WildAid
An agency that is willing to be bold and brave, we have year after year supported some of the most important community activist programmes. This year, Sinclair supported On Sharks and Humanity, an art exhibition presented by international non-profit organization WildAid, Parkview Art Action and the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. The exhibition very vocally tackled the shark fin trade using art to drive societal change, including eight giant sculptures that dominated Central Harbourfront. In total 36 internationally acclaimed artists united to create artworks that challenged their audiences, while generating widespread conversation that shone a local and international spotlight on the impact a declining shark population is having on the global marine ecology. Our leading call to action was to demand that the city’s largest restaurant chains to stop serving shark fin. When the eating stops, the killing can too.
What have you done recently to support your community and drive positive change? I promise, any help you give to others will help you even more.
Kiri Sinclair
