Background of the Sedan Chair Race
The annual Sedan Chair Race is the main fundraising event of the Sedan Chair Charities Fund. It consists of teams carrying sedan chairs racing around the Peak on a route (2.1km for both courses), starting from The Matilda International Hospital. Teams from a broad cross-section of Hong Kong – corporations, associations, clubs and schools – are all welcome to join the Race.
Each team consists of eight people and a passenger, we provide the sedan chair, with money for the Fund raised through entrance fees and sponsorship of the team. There are numerous prizes to be won for fit teams as well as fun awards for creative teams such as the best dressed, the most entertaining and the team that best captures the Spirit of the Event.
Over the years, many companies have been supporting the Race because training, creative chair decoration and combined effort create tremendous team spirit and build up goodwill for company employees and benefit needy charities.
Why the first race started
By 1970 the Board of Governors of The Matilda & War Memorial Hospital, as it was called then, was faced with a dilemma to either modernise the Hospital or close it down. The decision was made to modernise and keep it open.
The loyal nurses wanted to do what they could to help promote "Matilda" as the Hospital was fondly known. One of the nurses, Sister Joyce Smith, came up with a dual-purpose idea: a novelty race to raise money for charity and at the same time raise the Hospital's profile.
She had researched the history of the Hospital, and chose sedan chairs because with rickshaws they were the only means of transportation to and from the Hospital when it first opened in 1907. Thus the first Sedan Chair Race was inaugurated in 1975 with four entrants competing for "The Matilda Hospital Shield". The teams raced around the course on Mt. Kellett Road, following the original route that patients used to be transported to the Matilda International Hospital after arriving by the Peak Tram.
Today...
In 2011, 45 teams from across Hong Kong society - corporations, associations, clubs and schools – competed for numerous trophies.
Since its inception, the Sedan Chair Race has raised over $58.5 million for Hong Kong charities.
 
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