Spread the Message of Child Protection to Ensure the Safety and Healthy Development of the Children

A series of severe child maltreatment incidents in recent years have aroused enormous concerns on child protection. To address this, government is ramping up legislation on child protection by enforcing mandatory reporting for suspected child abuse cases. The Society always cares about families’ needs and children’s wellbeing. To advocate Protection of children, the “Child Protection in Action” Project was launched in Oct, 2022. Early identification and intervention were adopted alongside with parents, children, school personnel and interested parties to promote harmonious families and create a children-loving community, also to provide a safe place for children to grow up healthily. A total of 43 teacher training (for primary schools and preprimary institutions) and 1 sharing session with medical professionals, 104 parent groups / workshops; 45 children’s groups / workshops, 39 parent-child groups / workshops were held. Promotion to general public was carried out through roadshows, in school counters and shopping arcade. A promotion truck travelled all over Hong Kong in May, 2023 to spread the message to general public. Very encouraging feedback were received. Participants responded enthusiastically and reported the project was effective in uplifting their awareness on child protection.

Show Support to Men for Enhancing Their Coping Ability to Deal with Life Challenges

Men services are dispensable in our society as men nowadays deal with increasing challenges not limited to mid-life crisis , couple relationship , parenthood , body mind health and career issue, etc. In 2023, Hong Kong Jockey Club sponsored a three-year project “Jockey Club One Stop Service for Men” in order to provide multi-levels services for men and their families. Since the project commenced in July, 2023, we have already served over 462 men and over 3,200 public members through roadshows, educational initiatives, volunteer program me s and family outings. In order to cater to men’s interests and needs, we offered a wide range of life rebuilding classes , as well as m utual help groups were set up in five districts including Kwai Fong, Shams huip o, Kwun Tong, North Point and Tseung Kwan O to foster mutual support among men . There were also therapeutic groups which provide d assistance to men who experienced life stress and emotional distress. To promote this meaningful programme, a new web site was launched to offer information for men in four main areas including family, relationship, career and mental health.

Promote the Awareness of Family Mental Health and to Enhance the Resilience and Capacity of Family to Handle Stressful Situation

This year , six "Heart Delight" Unified Protocol Cognitive-behavioural Groups were piloted at three of the Society’s Integrated Family Service Centres. Utilised clinically validated, contemporary cognitive-behavioural therapy techniques that could effectively alleviate depression and anxiety, these groups not only helped members recognise the physical sensations, thoughts, and behaviours triggered by emotions, thereby enhancing their resilience and capacity to handle stressful situations, but also reduced the long-term negative effects of avoidance behaviours. The programme has contributed to positive outcomes which were validated by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The overall attendance rate was over 85%, and the participants reported improved mood with fewer distressing thoughts. In addition, six conventional CBT groups were held at six service centres, which would all be updated to "Heart Delight" Unified Protocol Cognitive-behavioural Groups next year.

A variety of groups and activities were hosted at the Society’s service centres under the Mental Health Enhancement Programme (MHEP) to improve participants' mental health. Through participating in Community Education Programmes included "Aromatic Touch - Harp Therapy" and "Deep Relaxation from Singing Bowl", the participants learnt to relieve and manage stress, enhancing self-care, compassion, and healing. Other activities included "Meditation at the Bay" Moonlight Zen Retreat, "Turkish Mosaic Lamp" and "Forest Healing" , helped to integrate the body and soul. We also had Hellinger’s "Family Constellations", "When I Meet Myself", and the Soul Collage sessions. The participants were satisfied with the activities, noting they helped reduce stress, improved social skills, and expanded support networks.

Promote Message of Stopping Domestic Violence to Cultivate Harmonious Family Relationship

Since October 2018, with the support from Social Welfare Department, we have launched the project “Peace Campus – Support Programme for Enhancing Peaceable Relationship”, providing support services to victims of intimate partner violence and children witnessing domestic violence. In this year, we had provided intimate partner violence classes and children classes for approximately 100 participants in total. 4 family programmes, 7 community talks and 22 service promotions were also launched. The project had much collaboration with the community stakeholders on conducting the talks and programmes. The effectiveness of the project was satisfactory and positive feedback were received from the stakeholders and service users. Through these programmes, participants’ awareness and skills on using non-violent ways to handle conflicts were enhanaced. The children were more capable to ventilate negative emotions and enhance problem-solving capacity in addressing family conflict. The relationship and communication among the familiies could also be enhanced.

Provide Emergency Support to Facilitate the Recovery of Families in Crisis

The Family in Crisis Support Project, operated by The Society with the support of the Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation, provides comprehensive services to families whose breadwinners were lost by unexpected accidents, illnesses, and natural disasters. In 2023-2024, the project aided 127 new families, granting HK$1,453,447 in financial support to address their urgent needs. Additionally, the project organised sharing sessions with schools and social service units, a seminar for helping professionals, and utili s ed social media to raise awareness about the importance of bereavement support. These efforts aim to identify and assist more vulnerable families in need.