A local charity providing sign language support services will receive funds raised from Operation Santa Claus 2023 to complete a three-year project.

Supported by Chinese University's Sustainable Knowledge Transfer Project Fund, SLCO Community Resources in Mong Kok advocates for more social inclusion of people with speech or language skills problems. It promotes sign bilingualism informed by empirical evidence from linguistics research and frontline experience.

Its project, "Effective Sign Intervention for Children with Special Education Needs", is an extension of the use of sign language as an augmentative and alternative communication tool for deaf or hard-of-hearing children in education.

Raymond Wong, the general manager of the charity, told RTHK's Andrew Dembina that they have visited 16 special schools and conducted activities in sign language for over 1,500 SEN children in the last two years -- which have yielded positive results.

"We have witnessed them being able to use sign language to express themselves, to understand more the world around them, and to learn more effectively with their caretakers," he said.

The charity has grown since being founded in 2016: it has 34 staff members -- half of which are deaf or hard-of-hearing -- and is now also offering services to elderly people.

Wong added that in future, they will continue collaborating with other professionals so that sign language will be more understood and accepted in society.

"We will be developing teaching packages and training resources for teachers and caretakers to continue [what] we have built," he said, thanking OSC and other donors such as Morgan Stanley for the support.

The "Magic Moments"-themed OSC campaign this year is raising money for 16 charities which cater to the needs of underprivileged children, the elderly and people with disabilities among others.

If you want to find out more about Operation Santa Claus or wish to make a donation, visit the Operation Santa Claus website.