The URA’s Community Service Partnership Scheme joins hands with young people to care for families in old districts

Partnering with six tertiary institutions and social service organisations, the Community Service Partnership Scheme (CSPS) of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has completed a series of volunteer programmes in the 2018/19 academic year under the theme of environmental protection and sustainable development, benefitting the physical and mental well-being of some underprivileged families.

A joint effort by the URA, tertiary students and district service organisations, CSPS is an ongoing volunteer programme dedicated to serve the needy residents in the old districts. In response to the residents’ needs, CSPS has extended its service to other districts and operated at a larger scale this year.  Organised for the second time, this year’s “Upcycling Programme” covered not only the Central and Western District, but also Kwun Tong District with more student volunteers joining the team to design and tailor-make for the underprivileged families useful home furniture such as storage cabinets, shoes cabinets and bookcases, out of wooden waste material. The programme was able to benefit more families in the old districts this year while promoting environmental protection at the same time.

Over 60 volunteers and beneficiaries of CSPS came together for an appreciation ceremony today (Saturday) at H6 CONET, the URA’s community space, to share the joy and experience of their participation in the services.  Non-Executive Director of the URA Board, Dr Lawrence Poon, and Managing Director of the URA, Ir Wai Chi-sing, commended the volunteers who sacrificed their time for serving the community and expressed gratitude for the support from partnering organisations.

Dr Poon said, “With environmental protection and sustainable development as the new theme for CSPS this year, we hope to serve the public good through our green volunteer activities while also safeguarding the environment.” 

Zachary Tsui, a student volunteer and also representative of the Architectural Society of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said, “This programme gave us, a group of architecture students, an opportunity to visit families in the old districts and apply our skills to transform recycled wood into useful furniture, which helped improve the living condition of the families there. In doing this we were also able to develop a better understanding of our discipline, the society and the environment.”

In addition to the Upcycling programme, the URA continued to partner with Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association (HKYWCA) this year to run an eight-month programme under the CSPS, which consisted of a variety of parent-child activities including dance classes, basketball games, and overnight camps for underprivileged children and their families living in old areas of the Central and Western District with an aim to enhance their family cohesion.  The first “Barter Party cum Fun Day” also took place this year where underprivileged families enjoyed swapping household items with each other, with an aim to helping participants establish a caring community network and raising their environmental awareness.

Family members of the URA staff  were also encouraged to join the volunteer team and participate in parent-child volunteer activities in their spare time to boost their children’s understanding of and care for the community.

Since the launch of CSPS in the 2012/13 academic year, the URA has worked closely with 31 student organisations of tertiary institutions and district service organisations to organise a variety of service programmes.  To date over 8,400 service hours have been accumulated by over 1,100 participating volunteers, benefitting more than 2,000 residents in the old districts, including the underprivileged families, the elderly, people living in subdivided units, ethnic minority children, people with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities.  The partnering organisations of the CSPS in the 2018/19 academic year include the Architectural Society of Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Rotaract Club of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Architectural Society of The University of Hong Kong, HKYWCA, Kwun Tong Methodist Social Service (KTMSS) and Senior Citizen Centre of Hong Kong Family Welfare Society in Kowloon City (HKFWS).

(ENDS)