Cricket Hong Kong are pleased to welcome Operation Breakthrough as official Charity partners for the 2017 DTC Hong Kong T20 Blitz.

The partnership reaffirms the event's mandate of celebrating Hong Kong's diversity.

Operation Breakthrough uses sport as a means to help, rehabilitate and positively reinforce young people from disadvantaged backgrounds or families: helping to fight crime and juvenile delinquency amongst low income and immigrant communities. CHK are delighted to support these outcomes through the Blitz, where youths in the programme will have the chance to participate in activities at the tournament.

Starting in September 2014, Cricket became the latest sporting activity under the Operation Breakthrough programme. There are currently ten teams comprising of a total of approximately 140 participants. The teams are populated by Non-Ethnic-Chinese youths, with the majority being Indian and Pakistani, and Nepalese with a small number of Afghans and Bangladeshis. All are under 19 and from disadvantaged socio-economic groups. Games take place every Sunday morning at the Police College, in the form of T20 fixtures. Qualified umpires oversee games and all batsmen are required to wear helmets. The program is a partnership between Breakthrough and educational professionals and various cricket clubs in the Territory. The cricket programme is flourishing with support from many sectors; character development, educational and employment opportunities under the cricket section are in the pipeline.

" For the kids to be involved with the Blitz is a once in a life time event, the chance for them to get close to some of the world's best cricketers, their idols, will be a an unforgettable experience." Glenn O'Neill, Senior Superintendent from Hong Kong Police Force said.

"Operation Breakthrough aims to inspire youngsters through sport and what better way to do this than have them rub shoulders with legends of the game"

Cricket Hong Kong CEO Tim Cutler said, "We are delighted to work with Operation Breakthrough as the Blitz’s official charity partner. In partnership with the Police, many of the volunteer current/former officers themselves, Breakthrough does amazing work in the community with at-risk youth. Using sport as the medium they make such a positive impact on so many lives, with the majority of those they help being from minority sectors of our community. Their moniker is “sport can change lives” and we couldn’t agree more. "

"Glenn O’Neil and Amarjeet Singh put countless hours into Breakthrough cricket and we have worked with them previously on fundraising activities such as Sixes for Nepal in 2015. They also support CHK through their “Apprentice” programme, with FTL Life supporting the salary of a Breakthrough participant to work with us."

"Considering how diverse our Hong Kong Cricket Family is, it makes Breakthrough the natural choice to benefit from the Blitz. We also look forward to giving some of the kids in their programme the chance to be involved with the event – be sure to look out for the “Breakthrough Ball Boys/Girls throughout!"