With God's Grace, colleagues in the Welfare Council stood in solidarity to journey through the pandemic years and revived activities which had been suspended because of the pandemic. What moved me most was watching participants from our elderly centres at the Chinese New Year reunion dinner happily hugging each other as if it had been ages since they last met. The relaunch of the All Staff Meeting made a profound impression with the enthusiastic interaction and greetings between colleagues. This is not only the most thorough and comprehensive staff engagement exercise in my career but also a manifestation of colleagues' dedication and team building spirit. During this reporting year, we have organised five sessions to cover thousands of staff, filling the room with hustle and bustle, and providing an exhilarating experience to all of the colleagues, many of whom also provided a lot of valuable feedback on our work.
The Welfare Council has made significant progress in the past year, not only actively supporting the government to deliver their targeted poverty alleviation initiatives but also making strides in enhancing elderly services and fostering exchanges with the Greater Bay Area. This includes the "Strive and Rise Programme", the "School-based After School Care Service Scheme", and the "Pilot Programme on Hung Hom Community Living Room Project", all of which are aimed at meeting the needs of grassroots families.
In collaboration with our colleagues, we have also developed the 2024/25 – 2028/29 Five-Year Strategic Plan. There are four main strategies: 1) "Be a role model and cradle for talent in the sector" – shaping the Welfare Council to be a "Holistic Caring Organisation" to retain, attract and nurture talent; 2) "Create a bigger impact" – leveraging the intellectual property of the Welfare Council to increase social impact; 3) "Broaden funding sources" – integrating various resources to develop, innovate and co-create; 4) "Exploit IT to work smarter" – advancing the application of smart technology throughout the Council. We hope that these strategies will help us enhance our service quality and work efficiency, and position the Council to tackle challenges in the coming decade.
The government's "Productivity Enhancement Programme" applies to various government departments as well as subvented organisations. In particular, large subvented organisations are expected to act accordingly and are encouraged to conduct process re-engineering or reprioritise their work to meet the shortfall in resources. The Welfare Council will rise above the challenge to ensure that we continue to provide high quality services to our users.
In the past year, the Welfare Council has once again been acknowledged by different sectors, winning 29 awards for our work in areas such as elderly care, youth services, occupational safety, etc. Specifically, the United Court Transitional Housing Project was awarded the Gold Award at the "DFA Design for Asia Awards", reflecting the Council's commitment to integrating social care into architectural design and telling good stories of Hong Kong. Other than providing a high acclamation of our work, these awards are the fruits of our team’s efforts and a recognition to their endeavours.
"Forging Ahead Together" is the driving force behind our work in the future. The Welfare Council will continue to work hand in hand with all of the colleagues to enhance service quality and collectively build a caring and harmonious society.
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited
Chief Executive Officer
Patricia Lau
