40th Anniversary: A Time for Reflection and Outlook

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong (RFHK), during which we have achieved an important milestone in agency development while also looking forward to new opportunities in the future. As an Executive Committee member who has been actively involved in the Fellowship's affairs since its establishment, and currently serves as the Chairman, I feel highly honored with appreciation to witness these developments. 

Exploration Across Time, Space, and People

The celebration for our 40th Anniversary has commenced in August 2023 with a UK study tour ‘Discovery and Exploration – London & Oxford Study Tour 2023’. The Executive Committee appointed Ms. SIU Yuk-chu Susanne, Vice-Chairperson and Mr. CHAN Wing-kai to lead a delegation of 11 staff members from various departments and levels to visit the Founding Director of Richmond Fellowship (UK), Ms. Elly Jansen, as well as various service units and related mental health service organisations and training institutes. Committee members and staff gained firsthand knowledge of the development history of RFHK and the latest services abroad.

From 7 to 9 December in the same year, we organised the 14th Asia Pacific International Mental Wellness Conference at the UOW College Hong Kong. More than 300 participants attended the conference, including scholars, professionals, people-in-recovery, family caregivers, and delegates from the United States, New Zealand, India, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong.

In terms of service development, we have gained valuable experience over the past 12 years operating the ‘JUSTONE 24-Hour Community Mental Health Support Project’, funded by various community charity foundations. This initiative has received recognition from the government and the Advisory Committee on Mental Health, leading to our successful bid to operate the ‘18111 - Mental Health Support Hotline’ (MHSH), Since the launch of MHSH on December 27, 2023, the hotline has been well-received by the public. As of the end of September 2024, we have handled over 92,000 calls, averaging about 340 calls per day, providing immediate mental health support and referral services.

Timely Responses to Unpredicted Challenges 

The Fellowship has faced the most significant challenge this year, a disastrous rainstorm from 7 to 8 September, 2023, leading to severe flooding and damaged two back doors of the Integrated Vocational Rehabilitation Services Centre (IVRSC) located in Chai Wan. As a result, the center became inundated, and 200 service users immediately lost access to training facilities. Staff members had to arrange for cleanup to prevent health hazards while also seeking alternative locations for service users to continue their training. Additionally, we applied for funding to renovate the center, aiming to restore training activities as soon as possible. I am very pleased that, through the collective efforts of staff from various departments and generous support from different stakeholders in the community, these tasks were swiftly and effectively managed. Following renovation work for nine months, IVRSC has re-opened with a bright new appearance on June 1, 2024, during our 40th Anniversary celebration event ’SUN’. This symbolizes the Fellowship stepping onto a new phase as we look forward to further development in the future.

Service Development in response to Community Needs

In terms of service development, the Fellowship continuously innovates to meet the diverse needs of the community. This year, our new service initiatives include the ‘Project KoL’ Key Incentives of Living – Mental Wellness Support Project for Elderly in Residential Homes, funded by the Advisory Committee on Mental Health, aiming to enhance mental health and quality of life of the elderly residents, as well as another initiative called ‘RE: bound’, designed to provide timely assistance for the general public through a user-friendly mental health help-seeking platform. Additionally, Holistic Support Project for Elderly Mental Wellness 'JoyAge 3.0', offers comprehensive mental health support for elderly living with depression and mental distress.

Moreover, our long-standing ‘Recovering Citizenship’ service concept has been implemented across various departments, yielding significant results. Following the presentations by staff teams at the Asia Pacific International Mental Wellness Conference, which shared insights from our services, a research paper submitted to Journal of Public Mental Health has also been accepted for publication, establishing important milestones for the practice of the Recovering Citizenship in Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as gaining recognition in the academic community.

Sustainable Growth and Looking to the Future

Throughout the 40 years of development at RFHK, I have witnessed the Fellowship evolving from a smaller scale into a well-structured and sizable organisation. The current manpower and resources of the organization have reached the level of a medium-sized welfare institution, while we also face challenges in financial management, human resources, and succession planning. Fortunately, in April 2024, RFHK was selected as one of five non-governmental organisations to participate in the ‘Jockey Club InnoPower Social Welfare Fellowship’, training our team of five staff members to build capacity on management strategies. We plan to implement new management models in the coming year based on what we have learned. I believe this opportunity will significantly benefit the future development of the Fellowship.

After years of dedicated service as the Director of RFHK, Dr. Fung Cheung-tim has officially retired from the role as of 1 October 2024. The Executive Committee has subsequently appointed Dr. Wong Kin-lung, Keith as the new Director. On behalf of RFHK, I would like to express our deepest gratitude for Dr. Fung's exemplary leadership and invaluable contributions over the past 16 years. We look forward with great anticipation to Dr. Wong's leadership, confident that he will guide RFHK to new heights with greater success.