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The Welfare Council successfully held its Charity Raffle 2017 from mid March to May 2017. Blessed with the support of every generous donor, supporting organizations, staff and the S.K.H. communities, the event has raised more than HK$4.6 million. Funds raised from the activity will be dedicated to support the Welfare Council’s services, such as the development of innovative projects and providing and social support services, thus better suit the needs of individuals who require assistance. On 5th May, the Welfare Council invited its professional consultants, sponsors, teachers and service users of the Western District Elderly Community Centre and St. Luke’s Settlement Neighbourhood Elderly Centre to the Charity Raffle 2017 Lucky Draw. All prizes were drawn in the presence of the guests while awards of appreciation were also presented to the Sheng Kung Hui’s secondary schools, primary schools and kindergartens and churches which raised the most fund to thank them for their support.   The Lucky Draw were held at the David Li Kwok Po Community Hall, H.K.S.K.H. St. James’ Church, where some of the Charity Raffle consultants including the Rt Revd Andrew Chan, Bishop of the H.K.S.K.H. Diocese of Western Kowloon and the Rt Revd Dr Timothy Kwok, Bishop of the H.K.S.K.H. Diocese of Eastern Kowloon, the Revd Tsui Yuk Dan, the Diocesan General Secretary of the H.K.S.K.H. Diocese of Hong Kong Island,Mr Wilson Mok, Vice-Chairman, Anglican (Hong Kong) Early Childhood Education Council Limited, Mr. Tse Chang Keung, Chief Administrator, Anglican (Hong Kong) Primary Schools Council Limited, and Ms. Terese Wong, Chairman, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Women’s League, together with Mr Lo Kin-ming, Honorary Treasurer of the Welfare Council, drew 60 winning numbers on the spot. Guests eagerly checked their tickets to see whether the winning numbers in hand.   In her speech, Dr Lee, Director of the Welfare Council, said, “The Welfare Council has held its Charity Raffle activity for the third consecutive year. Apart from the sale of raffle tickets at the Sheng Kung Hui’s churches, schools and social service units this year, limited teddy bears designed by the Welfare Council were also sold for charity. The lovely teddy bears were sought after, contributing to an increment to the total charity income. On top of that, during March to April 2017, the Welfare Council was allowed to place donation boxes at 60 shops, creating the opportunity to encourage the public to give generously through the event and get to know the Welfare Council. Support and encouragement from you truly attributed to the impressive results of the Charity Raffle 2017.” Dr Lee was grateful for the support from all sectors and encouraged employees to maintain their efforts to raise funds for the disadvantaged groups in the coming year.   Mr Lo Kin-ming, Honorary Treasurer of the Welfare Council, then presented awards of appreciation to sponsors and supporting companies. Also, to thank Kia Motors (Hong Kong) Ltd. for sponsoring the first prize, the Welfare Council gave an exclusive paper craft meticuously designed by Mr Sun, a 88-year-old man received the “Honorary Award” of the 21st Outstanding Volunteer Awards Presentation Ceremony, to a representative from Kia Motors (Hong Kong) Ltd. Spending over 10 production days, Uncle Sun worked seriously from the start to finish. The lovely paper craft features a logo of Kia Motors (Hong Kong) Ltd. as well as traditional Chinese pattern to symbolize good luck.   Furthermore, the Sheng Kung Hui’s secondary schools, primary schools and kindergartens and churches of dioceses of Hong Kong Island, Eastern Kowloon and Western Kowloon which raised the most fund were awarded the “Most Caring Heart Awards”, the heart-shape mosaic art pieces made by members of the PGR Fusion. Last but not least, the Welfare Council feels grateful to every generous donor, consultant members and other groups for their full support of the Charity Raffle 2017. Funds raised will go to the Welfare Council’s social services supporting the S.K.H. community as well as every community member.   Recipients of the Most Caring Heart Awards Church (HK Island) HKSKH St. Mary’s Church Church (Eastern Kowloon) HKSKH Holy Trinity Cathedral Church (Western Kowloon) HKSKH All Saints' Church Secondary School St. Stephen’s Girls’ College Primary School Diocesan Boys’ School Primary Division Kindergarten Sheng Kung Hui Kindergarten   Acknowledgment to the Supporting Organisations (in no particular order): Kia Motors (Hong Kong) Ltd Mr Wilson Chu Sino Group Wing Yip International Limited Oasis of Hope Smartech International Marketing Limited EyeCare HK Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) Limited Ogawa Health Care International (HK) Ltd. Yan Wo Tong Herbal Tea Shop Play House Management Services Limited Jenn Jewelry City Miles (HK) Ltd. King Parrot Group The Banqueting House Memorigin Watch Co. Ltd. Tai Po Mega Mall Solar Tower∙Camp Ocean Park Yuen Long Plaza Choco Choco Jumpin Gym U.S.A. Ltd. Haagen-Daz Orchid Padaria Religious Education Resource Centre Kong Footcare Limited Dessertissimo Lemongrass House Health Factor Foods Company Ltd./ Manna Organic Station Ying Kee Tea Hosue Grove Company Limited 80M Bus Model Shop Xi Zhan Tree Children's Lodge DOMA International Twins Co. Bakery Shop Beef King Restaurant Dynasty Feast Nice Inn Restaurant BB Shop Hong Kong Co. Ltd. Hoi Kee Stationery ME100FUN Mustela

Since September 2016, the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council has launched its Pilot Programme for Training in Childcare for Grandparents. The Tung Chung Integrated Services and Western District Elderly Community Centre recruited 40 grandparents for the programme, 37 of whom have successfully completed it. Last Saturday, the Welfare Council held a graduation ceremony cum celebrity sharing session at the David Li Kwok Po Community Hall, H.K.S.K.H. St. James’ Church to recognize participants’ effort and achievement. A veteran artist, Mr English Tang, was also presence in the ceremony to share the joys of caring for his grandchildren.   Speaking at the ceremony, Ms Keung Choi Yin, service director of the Welfare Council, pointed out that the Welfare Council organised the first phase of the Pilot Programme for Training in Childcare for Grandparents with the support of the Lotteries Fund and Social Welfare Department, teaching grandparents how to take care of newborn babies. Participant’s family members were invited to witness the wonderful moments of the grandparents in the ceremony. Keung hoped that family members could recrognise the efforts put in by grandparents to achieve a loving family with intergenerational harmony through mutual trust, acceptance, appreciation and tolerance, and a mutual concern for new life within the family. A short video of the grandparents listening attentively to their instructor and sharing learning experiences with the guests was also screened.   One of the participants, Mrs Yip said that she enrolled for the programme in preparation for the birth of her twin grandchildren. The programme did not only teach her skills of looking after newborn babies and how to communicate effectively with her son and daughter-in-law but also showed her varied childcare techniques and baby care products. Her daughter-in-law has since shown more trust towards her. Knowing the pressures faced by today’s parents, she hoped she could help alleviate their burden and allow them to focus on work.   On the other hand, a retired couple, Mr and Mrs Lam, also successfully completed the programme. Encouraged by their daughter, the couple applied for the programme to enrich their knowledge in childcare so that they can better take care of their little grandkid. Ahead of the programme, they were worried about not knowing how to bathe her daughter’s baby properly but now they are well equipped. “When we were young, we had to work hard to make a living and spent little time with our children. We do enjoy looking after our grandchild after retiring,” Lam added. He also praised the programme for its practicality, making him feel more confident in caring for his grandkid.   Ms Keung Choi Yin, service director of the Welfare Council, presented Certificates of Graduation to the participants who felt happy for completing the programme. The Welfare Council also invited a veteran artist, Mr English Tang, to share the joy of taking care of his grandchildren in the celebrity sharing session. As a grandpa of three, Tang’s youngest grandkid was born in January 2017 and he is experienced in caring for and communicating with little kids. More than that, the ceremony featured four booths introducing eco-friendly nappies and baby products as well as organic food and hand-made soap suitable for the elderly and children.

This article has Chinese version only.  

The biennial Outstanding Volunteer Awards Presentation Ceremony is organised by the Welfare Council to recognize volunteers, corporate volunteers and group volunteers’ enthusiasm and efforts in social services. This year, the 21st Outstanding Volunteer Awards Presentation Ceremony was held on 11th March at the Assembly Hall, 4/F, North Tower, YMCA of Hong Kong, where Mr Stephen Sui, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, was invited as the officiating guest and 86 awards were presented. Among the awardees, the eldest volunteer was a 92-year-old granny while the youngest one was a girl of 15 years old. Last year, the Welfare Council dedicated 150,000 hours to a turnout of over 310,000 individuals. An impressive crowd of nearly 200 volunteers, representatives from corporate volunteers and group volunteers and guests attended the award presentation ceremony. The theme of ceremony was “Go the extra mile”, which aimed to encourage one to do small things with great love. At the ceremony, 3 “Honorary Awards” and 51 “Gold Awards” were presented to individual volunteers, while 18 corporations and 14 organisations were awarded the “Corporate Caring Awards” and “Organisation Caring Awards” respectively. Gold Award winners have accumulated more than 50 service hours over the past two years, and volunteers who received the Gold Award for 3 times were granted the Honorary Award. Mr Stephen Sui, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Loewe Lee, Executive Committee Member of the Welfare Council and Dr Jane Lee, Director of the Welfare Council, presented awards to awardees of different categories.   In his speech, Mr Stephen Sui, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, acknowledged the Welfare Council’s dedication to promoting voluntary services and grooming volunteers. He also affirmed volunteers for their contributions to society and organisations including the Welfare Council for their passion for motivating voluntary services so that volunteerism has established itself in all sectors of the community. “Different individuals, families, organisations and corporations made up a team of 26,700 volunteers of the Welfare Council, with the youngest one at the age of 6 and the eldest one being over 90. As a platform with individual volunteers serving over 100,000 hours and group volunteers dedicating over 30,000 hours, the Welfare Council has the ability to mobilize its volunteers in a large and significant scale,” he added. Mr Stephen Sui, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, also delivered his heartfelt gratitude to the volunteers for their silent endeavours and expressed his well-wishes for the Welfare Council’s work and achievements.   Dr Jane Lee, Director of the Welfare Council, applauded corporate and group volunteers for exercising social responsibility, serving the community amid hectic schedules and sharing love and care with the underprivileged groups. Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Lee said, “The Welfare Council has never ceased to promote volunteerism and nurture volunteers. Through the biennial event, we have the chance to recognize volunteers’ selfless effort. Every year, the number of volunteers have grown: the number of volunteers up from 15,000 volunteers last year to 16,000 volunteers this year. The volunteers also produced excellent results: they dedicated 150,000 hours to a turnout of over 310,000 individual.” Dr Lee promised that the Welfare Council would join hands with Hong Kong people to bring warmth and care to the service users and create a harmonious society with various sectors.   During the ceremony, a video documenting thoughts of a number of volunteers was screened, which adhered to the spirit of “Go the extra miles”. A kind-hearted Chinese medicine practitioner, Mr Lam who pays regular home visits to elders living in Ping Chau and provides free medical consultation to children residing in villages in remote areas on mainland China, also joined the ceremony. He bought the guests special massage wards and delivered love and care to guests by teaching them a five-step massage.

The Welfare Council has always dedicated a lot of attention to excavating opportunities for collaboration with the industrial, commercial and public sectors. Over the past few years, it has actively engaged in Caring Company Partnership Expo hosted by The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) to encourage various industries to fulfil their corporate social responsibilities while promoting the Welfare Council’s social enterprises and social services. In the afternoon of Friday, 10th March, 2017 , Caring Company Partnership Expo 2017 was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, featuring more than 120 exhibition booths related to social service and social enterprise. Representatives from various industries and social service sector were allowed to exchange ideas and explore opportunities to facilitate multi-disciplinary collaboration catering to social needs. The Welfare Council also assigned employees of different service units to introduce its social enterprises, social services and creative art projects including the PGR Fusion, Grace On Hands, Solar Tower∙Camp, Good Kitchen, tuck shop of the Good Kitchen, Community Medical, Support Network, B Plus Balloon Decorative Services, the Rainbow Arts Corner, the Green Infinity Recycling Shop and the Azure Production Workshop to different corporations and groups on the spot. Not only did the staff show to guests the handicrafts, fabric products, handmade soap and healthy food made by the Welfare Council’s social enterprises, they also invited its service users to demonstrate balloon art and how to make hand cream and leather bracelets. Guests were encouraged to try and join in the fun. Many guests felt interested in the Welfare Council’s products and services and asked for further details of cooperation.   In addition, the Welfare Council was invited to decorate one of the art pieces produced by HKCSS to celebrate the Caring Company Scheme’s 15th anniversary. Elderly members of the Vitalia Academy for Life Long Learning painted a bird and climbing plants to symbolize senior citizens’ resilience, thirst for knowledge and desire to live life to the full.   This year, the Welfare Council successfully nominated a record high of 62 business and public organisations for the Caring Company Award or Caring Organisation Award (Download the list of awardees). The Welfare Council extended its heartfelt congratulations to every awardee and thank them for their relentless support to the Welfare Council as well as their contribution to the society. Looking ahead, the Welfare Council would join hands with more caring companies and organisations to facilitate different kinds of community partnership programmes that could transform lives of the needy.    

The Council's Charity Raffle 2017 will be held with ticket sales starting from 11th March to 4th May 2017. Funds raised from the activity will be dedicated to support the Council’s services, such as services for children with special education needs, the S.K.H. Stroke Rehabilitation Fund, emergency support for families in need and the development of innovative projects.   Click here to enlarge the poster   Each booklet contains 10 tickets at $20 each, i.e. $200 per book. Each raffle ticket comes with coupons which offer shopping and dining discounts. Also, thanks to the contributions of some sponsors, we have a total of 60 fabulous lucky draw prizes, with the grand prize being a KIA Morning LX valued at $99,999. (*More details can be found at the bottom of the page.)   To purchase raffle tickets or make cash donations: 1.      Go to the service units of the Council to purchase raffle tickets or make cash donations. (Click here for the list of service units) 2.      Download the donation form here. Complete and return with payment to Ms Dolly Wong of PR & COMM Department.   Other donation method: You can put your donations into donations boxes at shops listed here.   The raffle will be drawn on 5th May 2017 and results will be published on 12th May in the Standard and Sing Tao Daily, on the Council’s website and and on 14th May in the Sheng Kung Hui’s Echo.   Let’s join with us to transform lives.   For enquiries, please contact Ms Wong of PR & COMM Department at 2533 1250.   *Coupons on the ticket include:  Jumpin Gym U.S.A. discount coupons  Häagen-Dazs discount coupons  HK$3 Orchid Padaria discount vouchers  HK$10 Religious Education Resource Centre discount coupons  HK$50 or HK$100 Dr. Kong discount coupons    Dessertissimo’s Dessert ice-cream coupons