Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) launched one of Hong Kong’s biggest annual fundraising campaigns – Operation Santa Claus (OSC), on Monday.

The launch ceremony was themed ‘Small Change, Big Change’.

Established in 1988, OSC is jointly organised by RTHK with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) to mobilise the people of Hong Kong into charitable giving at Christmas.

So far, it has received total donations of $27.21 million (HK$211 million) for 194 charities.

This year, the campaign has chosen 20 charities in six areas: children and youth, community, elderly, environmental, medical issues and mental and physical disabilities.

It marks the beginning of a series of fundraising events which will be held throughout November and December.

A new initiative to train NGOs, supported by UBS and run by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, was also introduced at the launch.