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The Government is actively promoting neighbourhood support networks to build an age-friendly community, with a view to encouraging ageing in place so that elderly persons can further contribute to society with their rich experience and expertise and lead a flourishing life, the Director of Social Welfare, Ms Carol Yip, said today (October 31).
Speaking at the 2015 Award Presentation Ceremony of the Opportunities for the Elderly Project (OEP) today, Ms Yip said that the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has been subsidising the implementation of the OEP to encourage elderly persons to make good use of their strengths and skills in various aspects. For better use of resources in encouraging elderly persons to participate in community affairs, the OEP will merge with the Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project, currently under the Elderly Commission, next year.
Ms Yip said that the theme for the joint project in 2016-18 will aim at strengthening support networks at the neighbourhood level and encouraging elderly persons to make full use of their expertise and ample life experience to create an age-friendly community. The SWD will step up publicity on various fronts including the launch of a Facebook page today to promote a spirit of respect, love and care for the elderly and foster a neighbourhood caring culture.
"Since the launch of the OEP in 1999, over 4,600 district programmes with nearly 2.7 million participants have been subsidised, and the total amount of subsidy has exceeded $50 million. More importantly, many elderly participants have become involved in helping organisers to plan and implement activities. More than 5,000 elderly volunteers are participating in the project every year," she added.
Ms Yip pointed out that the Government has also launched a wide range of initiatives in recent years to achieve the objective of providing elderly persons with a sense of belonging and a feeling of worthiness to help them age in place. These include allocating extra funding for 210 elderly centres to strengthen support services for elderly persons and their carers, providing additional day care and residential care service places, extending the concessionary $2 fare scheme to green minibuses in phases, issuing all vouchers under the first phase of the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly, rolling out the Pilot Scheme on Living Allowance for Carers of Elderly Persons from Low Income Families through the Community Care Fund, and launching the Navigation Scheme for Young Persons in Care Services to encourage young people to join the workforce of elderly and rehabilitation care services.
At the ceremony today, the Hong Kong Best OEP Awards, the District Best OEP Awards and the Special Awards were presented to organisations and elderly participants for their outstanding performance in implementing the one-year projects in 2014-15.
Other guests who attended the ceremony included the Chairman of the Elderly Commission, Professor Alfred Chan, and the Chairman of the OEP Advisory Committee, Dr Lam Ching-choi.
Organised by the SWD's Working Group on OEP, the event aimed at enhancing intergenerational harmony and promoting respect and care for elderly persons. At the event, Anderson Junior was re-appointed as the OEP's Ambassador to help promote OEP activities and spread the message of active ageing.
Ends/Saturday, October 31, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:18
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