Update on Disbursement of Community Silver Trust Funds

Ms Mary Liew asked the Minister for Health (a) if he will provide an update on the Community Silver Trust (CST) particularly (i) how much has been disbursed to date; and (ii) how many Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) in the intermediate and long-term care sector have received CST funds; and (b) how many elderly persons have benefited from the intermediate and long-term care services provided by these VWOs.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Community Silver Trust, or CST, was set up by the Government to provide a dollar-for-dollar matching grant to encourage donations into the intermediate and long-term care sector in Singapore. The Trust is managed jointly by MOH and MCYS.

We have disbursed $20.13 million to 27 VWOs in the health and social services sectors for donations received in the first three quarters of FY2011. This will enable them to build up their capabilities and programmes in intermediate and long-term care. About 12,000 clients currently served by these VWOs stand to benefit from this additional funding.

We have also received the applications for CST matching grant for donations received in the fourth quarter of FY2011 and are processing them for disbursement in batches from September onwards.

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