“Fight Against Virus. Add Love to Families” Project
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has ravaged Hong Kong and taken a heavy toll on its economy. Due to the pandemic, “work from home” and “study from home” have become the new normal and created tensions among family members. In response, the Society kicked off the “Fight Against Virus. Add Love to Families” Project to send positive messages to Hong Kong families during these stressful times. We also set up a dedicated webpage on the Society’s website with both “Families” and “Students” sections which offered tips from our professional social workers for maintaining good family relations. We have uploaded the “Guide on Fighting Against COVID-19”, “Mental Health Booklet”, and “Learn at Home Booklet” to our website as well as released WhatsApp stickers in order to motivate families and students to fight against the pandemic. We further enriched the “Advice” section on the Society’s website on precautions to take during the pandemic.
Announce the Findings of the First Hong Kong Family Wellbeing Index (HKFWI) and Online Questionnaire
The Society organised a press conference on 15th May, 2020 (International Day of Families), to announce the findings of the territory’s first HKFWI, in order to raise the public’s understanding of family wellbeing and serve as a reference for advocacy work in this area. Ms. Amarantha Yip, the Society’s Chief Executive recommended the Government to refer to the
index findings and formulate comprehensive policies on family wellbeing, providing families with protection and social resource; and to encourage their participation in social networks so as to enhance family wellbeing, family functions and related impacts. Meanwhile, the Society also released the HKFWI online questionnaire (https://www.hkfws. org.hk/hkfwi). Ms. Amarantha Yip further encouraged the general public to complete the self-administered online questionnairethe Society's website in order to evaluate their family wellbeing status, and to refer to the recommendations from our professional social workers to enhance their family wellbeing. The Society also came up with other creative means to promote family wellbeing such as releasing a family wellbeing video and WhatsApp stickers designed by a local illustrator Dear me, the WhatsApp stickers came with loving messages for the general public to cheer up their family members.
Organise “Family Wellbeing” Competition
The Society organised the “Family Wellbeing” Competition in May to December, 2020 to garner the general public’s unforgettable and loving family stories in the format of video, image or text. Responses towards the competition were overwhelming. More than 280 entrants were recorded and over 80,000 online votes were received from the general public. The Society held the award presentation ceremony on 20th February, 2021. Celebrity Mr. Sammy Leung, film director Mr. Benny Lau and the Society’s Chief Executive, Ms. Amarantha Yip were invited as guests. Sammy shared his tips of maintaining family wellbeing during the ceremony and the related video clips have been uploaded on our webpage and the social media. The Society also released supplements on SkyPost featuring all the winning works of families and their tips of maintaining family wellbeing.
Maintain Close Contact with the Media
Maintaining effective communications with our stakeholders, especially the media, is one of the Society’s prime concerns. Our clinical psychologists, professional social workers and social work consultants have often been interviewed and they also contributed articles related to the Society’s key services and hot topics such as family relationships, youth problems and elderly care etc. We also promoted our special services, such as financial education, multi-generational family relationships, and divorce problems in media interviews, as well as shared professional views on popular family issues, for example, parenting for home-schooling under COVID-19 and students’ cyberbullying.
