Operation Santa Claus: the charity changing lives through swimming in Hong Kong
Splash began by teaching domestic helpers, and later expanded to include children with physical or mental disabilities, low-income families and ethnic minorities
When Libby Alexander and Simon Holliday noticed that many domestic helpers and Hong Kong residents at local beaches could not swim, they decided to take action.
They soon learned that despite Hong Kong being surrounded by water and having an abundance of pools, many residents did not have the opportunity to learn to swim. Swimming lessons are not mandatory, many schools lack pools and private classes are expensive.
A 2014 survey by Baptist University found that 46.7 per cent of Hong Kong secondary students could not swim. The following year, Alexander and Holliday, originally from the US and the UK, founded Splash Foundation to provide swimming lessons for those who lacked the opportunity to learn.
The charity began by teaching domestic helpers, and later expanded to include children with physical or mental disabilities, low-income families and ethnic minorities.
As of the end of 2025, it has taught 11,145 people from disadvantaged backgrounds to swim for free and aims to raise that number to 25,000 by 2030.
This year, Splash is one of 13 charities to receive funding from the annual fundraising campaign Operation Santa Claus (OSC), which will enable it to rent pools and hire coaches and lifeguards for its intensive summer programme, Splash Camp, benefiting another 250 children from low-income families.