The Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong Charity Fund

Background

When the CLC was set up, it was recognized that support should be offered to the children, families and residents in the targeted districts of Tsuen Wan, Tsing Yi and Kwai Chung.  It was understood that they would have needs that have to be supported in order to best facilitate the growth, development and education of the children and families.  Poverty is an issue; as well as housing overcrowding.  Drug and alcohol dependencies and abusive relationships occur in many of the families that we work with.  More detailed information is provided in the table below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Each family may have more than one type of family problem.  The total number of problems are experienced by the 150 families who have registered at the centre in 2010.

 

 

The Children’s Development Programme

The CDP provides social work support for the children, young people and families in the area.  A guidance teacher has been employed full time and she liaises with social workers in the Social Welfare Department as well as within schools, in order to recruit students for the centre and discuss any issues that arise with them. 

 

 

The guidance teacher runs courses for the children and young people which work to develop their social interactions and emotional ability as well as for the families to look at communication and how children and young people need to be valued, appreciated and praised.  These courses provide a forum for the parents to share their experiences- of their own childhood and also of life with their children.  It provides a much needed outlet for their pressures and stresses and helps them to develop support networks to better cope in the future.

 

 

Skills based courses have also been run under the CDP and these provide these parents with skills that they may be able to take into the workplace.  As previously mentioned, these are low income families and teaching skills that may allow them to better provide for their families and improve the quality of life for their children will help them all in the long run.

 

 

Baby College

Baby College is the newest addition to our services.  This is staffed by a Programme Worker and Programme Assistant who work hard to develop courses.  Level 2 and Level 3 courses offer play and support opportunities for parents with their children from 0 – 3 years of age.  Toys and resources are available for the children to play with and the programme worker models good communication skills for dealing with young children and setting appropriate boundaries.  Parents are encouraged to read to children daily to provide extra support with language development and vocabulary expansion.  Educational toys have been bought for the programme and the toys and books are available for borrowing by the parents.

 

The Level 1 course was the course for pregnant women and their partners or family members.  Highlights from the course are the presentation from a pediatrician on common childhood ailments and the nutrition for mother and baby sessions.