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The Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Elderly Commission will collaborate again in launching a new phase of the Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project following the success of the pilot project.
Speaking at the Symposium on Active Ageing 2011 today (July 11), the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, noted that the new phase would last for two years. Apart from promoting active ageing and the spirit of neighbourhood support, the new phase also aims to foster harmonious family relations, which ties in with the theme of the Family Council.
As the number of nuclear families in Hong Kong increases, elderly people who live away from their family members may receive less love and care.
Therefore, under the new phase, family members of the elderly will be invited to take part in the programmes together. The aim is to increase family members' awareness that their love and care is an irreplaceable factor in promoting active ageing among the elderly, and that family members and friends should play an active role in caring for the elderly at home.
Mr Cheung said, "Through encouraging owners' corporations, owners' committees, property management companies and relevant residents' organisations to participate in volunteer recruitment and to co-organise visits, we hope to enhance the support network for the elderly at the community level."
A subsidy of $100,000 will be granted for each district project under which activities promoting family responsibility or enhancing neighbourhood support networks will be organised. The funding application period will end on September 23, 2011.
Reviewing the pilot project, the Chairman of the Elderly Commission, Dr Leong Che-hung, who also attended the Symposium, pointed out that a total of 75 district projects have been carried out across the territory in the past three years, engaging more than 200,000 elderly persons and their family members.
Feedback from those who joined activities under these projects and participating organisations show that the pilot project has been effective in facilitating cross-sectoral co-operation and has been successful in building a community platform for nurturing self-reliance and mutual help among elderly people and enabling them to lead an enriching life.
Dr Leong said, "The concerted efforts of all the organisations and individuals have brought about the success of the pilot project. They fully demonstrated the spirit of cross-sectoral collaboration and intergenerational harmony. May I take this opportunity to thank them all for their support of the pilot project and call on organisations that provide elderly services, district bodies, management companies and resident groups to actively participate and support the new phase."
Both Mr Cheung and Dr Leong were impressed by the organisations' enthusiasm for serving the community and wished them every success with the new phase of the project.
Ends/Monday, July 11, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:21
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