It’s not often that people believe in something strongly enough that they drop out of university to pursue after it, especially not in Singapore. Yet, that was what one of the founding members of local children’s charity Glyph, Lim Si Hui, did.
Half a decade later, Glyph is celebrating its fifth anniversary and will be taking 200 children to Forest Play at Sentosa and counts Minister Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and the Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration, as their Patron in their quest to do good.
What is Glyph?
Glyph was started by a group of friends in 2017 to help low income families living in the Bukit Merah area.
Rather than focusing on academics, the group decided to look for ways to expose children to soft skills by organising activities and enrichments for them that they would not otherwise be able to participate in.
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From those early years, the team has since grown and so have the range of activities that they conduct for their beneficiaries.
Making a Mark for Good
Today, Glyph runs a centre at Beach Road which holds activities on the weekends for its community. It also conducts activities at Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) ComLink centres in Marsiling and Woodgrove, and in the Boon Lay area.
Over the last five years, Glyph has conducted more than 1,500 classes and activities for over 2,000 beneficiaries. Some of the activities which Glyph kids have been able to participate in include baking, pottery-making and gymnastics.
In addition to introducing new skills to children, the weekend activities at Glyph allow children to be part of a community and to establish valuable relationships with others.
With kids at Glyph, caregivers also get to take a break and parents who might need to work on weekends also enjoy the assurance that their children are taken care of and engaged in meaningful activities.
Who Can Join the Glyph Community?
Glyph’s activities are targeted towards kids between the ages of 5 and 16 years old. The Glyph community is open to Singaporeans and those who are receiving government assistance such as those holding the Blue CHAS card or under MSF’s ComCare social assistance.
More details on how kids can join the Glyph community can be found here.
Enriching Children’s Lives Through Experiences & Play
Besides indoor activities, Glyph kids also get to experience field trips and activities beyond their centres. These include sports camps and visits to local partners (they recently went on a tour of the Rolls-Royce factory).
For upcoming 5th Anniversary celebration on 23 and 24 July at Forest Play, Glyph kids will get to work with recycled materials and create whatever they can imagine. Parents and grandparents are invited to join in the celebrations too as part of the Glyph community.
To find out more about Glyph, or if you know of kids who may benefit from their activities, or if you simply wish to see how you can help, visit the Glyph website here.
