Singapore – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Mapletree”) is pleased to disburse annual financial support to 11 youths from three local voluntary welfare organisations (“VWOs”) through its Mapletree Youth Resilience Programme (“MYRP”) 2018.

MYRP aims to provide sustained financial aid and motivational support to youths who have the drive to pursue an education notwithstanding their economic or family backgrounds. Each youth will receive an average amount of about $4,500 under MYRP 2018, which is based on their individualised needs for school fees, textbooks, tuition materials, daily and transport expenses as well as for laptops where needed. The amount disbursed each year is reviewed annually and will be committed until the respective beneficiary completes tertiary education.

In addition, youths under the MYRP will also be provided with motivational support that involves regular meet-ups with dedicated professional counsellors and participation in youth-related programmes such as arts and sports activities. When the MYRP pilot was first launched in 2016, five youths from Boys’ Town and YouthReach were identified to receive the sponsorship and support.

With the success of the pilot, Mapletree has added Beyond Social Services (“Beyond”) to the MYRP. Under the MYRP 2018, financial support has been extended to four youths from Beyond, in addition to the four beneficiaries from Boys’ Town (increase of one beneficiary) and three from YouthReach (increase of one beneficiary), bringing the total number of youths under MYRP to 11 from three different youth-related beneficiaries.

“By relieving the youths and their families from the financial burden, the youths were better able to focus on their studies. Since our pilot, the recipients have shown improvement in academic performance and built better relationships with others. With the encouraging pilot results, we now aim to do more,” said Mr Chua Tiow Chye, Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer of Mapletree.

Gerard Ee, Executive Director of Beyond, added that, “When our youths strive to succeed in their studies, they inspire others in the neighbourhoods to do so. Mapletree’s scholarships targeted at disadvantaged youths are not just empowering individuals but empowering communities.”

In this respect, Mapletree has been a strong supporter for at-risk youths since 2012, when we made a commitment to provide support for residential care and schooling programmes for youths from Boys’ Town and Assumption Pathway School.

To date, Mapletree has contributed more than S$640,000 to support the education, sports and arts programmes of Boys’ Town and YouthReach, which seeks to uplift youths from difficult financial and social circumstances by providing residential assistance and development programmes such as art therapy and cooking sessions.

Over the longer term, Mapletree aims to expand the scope and scale of MYRP to other youth-related charities and to further establish Mapletree as a strong supporter of at-risk youths in Singapore by working closely with VWOs and supporting their youth programmes.