About Us Our History

In March 2020, the Welfare Council successfully bid for a day care centre for the elderly at Chun Yi House, Chun Yeung Estate, Fo Tan, with 60 service places and 5 designated respite care places, and an additional 10 places, to extend the service hours to 8pm for elders with individual needs. The centre provides day care and support services for frail elders aged 60 or above with moderate or severe impairment (including those with cognitive impairment) in Sha Tin to help them maintain their mobility, develop their potential, improve their quality of life and relieve the stress of the caregivers so that the elders can age in a familiar community.

The centre team has taken into account the needs of the elderly with cognitive impairment and designed different facilities, including a leisure trail and a multi-sensory interactive wall, to allow the elderly to stroll and rest in a safe and comfortable environment, as well as to stimulate their visual and olfactory senses through interactive settings to increase their interest in interacting with the environment. In addition, the centre has introduced technologies such as companion robots and VR virtual reality training and a meal ordering machine developed by the Welfare Council to enable the elderly to grasp the information of their meal in the centre better. The centre has also introduced several home-based services, including general and geriatric specialists, podiatrists, Chinese medicine practitioners, wound care nurses, dietitians, pharmacists and dental check-ups, to fill the gap in the services provided by traditional day care centres for the elderly. The centre was initially scheduled to commence operation in September 2020. However, Chun Yeung Estate was used as a central isolation centre during the epidemic, so the recovery of the premises was delayed until April 2021 and the centre is ready for service by August 2021.

Since 2009, the Welfare Council has been operating the Short Term Food Assistance Service Team at Tuen Mun District to provide short-term food assistance to individuals or families in immediate financial hardship due to sudden changes in life circumstances. It has since taken over the service in Kowloon City and Yau Tsim Mong District in 2017. The service is regularised from August 2021, and the Council has successfully bid for 2 teams (namely “Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing” and “Kowloon City and Yau Tsim Mong”) to provide services to the needy in these 2 districts. 

With the generous support of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and Chinachem Group, Jockey Club Kwai Wah Health and Wellbeing Centre of the Lady MacLehose Centre at Kwai Wah Building, 11 Tai Loong Street, was completed with its basic infrastructure and commenced trial operation in January 2021. The centre’s team provided a new one-stop ”Health Education — Health Service — District Support” community health platform, promoting a holistic approach to healthy living in the district. In the future, several services will be gradually introduced, including medical rehabilitation (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nutritional therapy and speech therapy, etc.), medication consultation, health guidance and assessment, optometry, personal health care, fitness courses and training, fitness classes, health coaching and volunteer training, Chinese medicine and emotional well-being, etc. As the epidemic has disrupted physical services, the centre has used information technology to help the elderly at home to establish an electronic social platform, such as guiding them to use tablets or smartphones to continuously participate in health activities, rehabilitation training and learning new knowledge to promote physical and mental health.