Jockey Club supports WHO's call for age-friendly city

11/18/2011

In support of the city’s growing ageing population, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has supported a citywide public education campaign in line with the Age-Friendly Cities Programme initiated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

The campaign aims to raise public awareness of the importance of an age-friendly Hong Kong and to promote innovative ways to create a more inclusive environment for seniors. It is organised by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) in collaboration with CADENZA: A Jockey Club Initiative for Seniors.

As part of the campaign, a carnival entitled “March for Age-Friendly Hong Kong” was held today (18 November) in the Piazza of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Jockey Club Steward Dr Rita Fan Hsu Lai Tai joined Executive Council Member Dr Leong Che-hung, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung, Elderly Commission Chairman Professor Alfred Chan, HKCSS Chief Executive Christine Fang and CADENZA Project Director Professor Jean Woo to attend the kick-off ceremony. 

Dr Fan said that when CADENZA was launched with a donation of HK$380 million in 2006, the aim was to promote creative elderly services and encourage seniors to enjoy their lives in the community.

“This time, CADENZA joins hands with HKCSS to promote the concept of an ‘Age-Friendly City’. In the next few months, we will support the seniors and their organisations to spread this message to primary and secondary school students, so as to change young people’s perspective towards the elderly and provide an opportunity for the seniors to share their experiences with the younger generation,” said Dr Fan.

Based on its elderly survey results in 33 cities worldwide, the WHO has set up guidelines for people to make their cities more age-friendly, covering areas such as outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community support and health services. Suggestions include non-slippery and wide pavements, and to offer training and job opportunities for the elderly.

The Club has donated HK$1.65 million to launch the five-month public education campaign and the carnival to bring together the young and old as well as senior and corporate volunteers from various districts and sectors, aiming to forge a community movement to build an age-friendly Hong Kong. Today’s carnival attracted over 1,000 participants to mark the beginning of the campaign and to celebrate the annual Senior Citizen’s Day. It included a parade, an exhibition on age-friendly measures, performances and an experience-sharing session.

The five-month public education campaign will also include ten workshops for some 50 elderly volunteers to spread age-friendly community messages to more than 800 primary and secondary students, who will become ambassadors of the campaign in future. In addition, a short film competition will be held next year to deepen the youngsters’ understanding of the elderly and solicit innovative suggestions to improve senior citizens’ quality of life.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has become one of Hong Kong’s best known and respected organisations, providing the public with world-class sporting entertainment as well as being the city’s major non-Government community benefactor, now donating more than HK$1 billion a year to charitable and community projects.  It has been a part of Hong Kong through good times and bad, sharing the city’s growth and development with its people, and is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for future generations.