Hong Kong News
Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 31, 2023
Real, Diverse, Unbiased.
New charity foundation zeros in on children’s mental wellness
Hong Kong’s first non-profit organization dedicated to underserved children’s mental health was inaugurated in the presence of Chief Executive John Lee and a star-studded advisory committee.
The WEMP Foundation, focusing on four key areas of Wellbeing, EQ, Mental Health and Parenting, is personally founded by New World Development’s CEO Adrian Cheng. It is an all-rounded collaboration platform that brings together children, parents, schools and the community.
Backed by a distinguished advisory committee of almost 20 leaders and experts in education, medicine, academic, political and business sectors, the Foundation aims to protect and safeguard the mental health of underserved children and create a positive and loving environment in which they grow.
According to founder of the WEMP Foundation Adrian Cheng, plans are in place to offer positive parenting skills training to 10 kindergartens with the goal of reaching 10,000 kindergarten parents and children. It is set to be Hong Kong’s first education programme that targets early childhood mental health.
“As children are tomorrow’s leaders, it is only by creating a healthy environment with a great mental health and wellness support system that children can grow to reach their full potential and positively lead our future community,” he remarks.
Chief executive John Lee said, “Family care and school education are the two factors that influence our children’s growth the most. I thank the WEMP Foundation for your visionary approach and the achievements in supporting Hong Kong’s children.”
Since its establishment in 2021, the Foundation has kicked off a series of pilot projects on mental health education, benefitting over 20,000 students and parents.
Utilizing innovative methods including film appreciation, discussions, family-bonding workshops and original interactive games on emotions, these projects not only introduces positive parenting skills and mental health knowledge to parents from underprivileged families, but also guides children to learn and embrace their own emotions.
In the workshops led by renowned educator Charles Yu, parents learned the importance of developing their children’s merits at an early age; engaging in rational communication to avoid arguments; and believing in their children’s ability to self-correct and grow through their own mistakes.
To create a culture of empathy at school and at home, the Foundation has partnered with JUST FEEL, a charitable organization that has developed a set of original emotion cards and games to teach children about emotions and how to muster up their courage to express their feelings.
In another collaboration, the Foundation screened the award-winning micro-film “Sounds of Silence” followed by a discussion session across 18 districts. The touching story about an emotionally distressed child helps parents better understand their children and the psychological damage they may feel, which in turn helps them adjust their parenting skills, and develop a positive parent-child relationship.
Backed by a distinguished advisory committee of almost 20 leaders and experts in education, medicine, academic, political and business sectors, the Foundation aims to protect and safeguard the mental health of underserved children and create a positive and loving environment in which they grow.
According to founder of the WEMP Foundation Adrian Cheng, plans are in place to offer positive parenting skills training to 10 kindergartens with the goal of reaching 10,000 kindergarten parents and children. It is set to be Hong Kong’s first education programme that targets early childhood mental health.
“As children are tomorrow’s leaders, it is only by creating a healthy environment with a great mental health and wellness support system that children can grow to reach their full potential and positively lead our future community,” he remarks.
Chief executive John Lee said, “Family care and school education are the two factors that influence our children’s growth the most. I thank the WEMP Foundation for your visionary approach and the achievements in supporting Hong Kong’s children.”
Since its establishment in 2021, the Foundation has kicked off a series of pilot projects on mental health education, benefitting over 20,000 students and parents.
Utilizing innovative methods including film appreciation, discussions, family-bonding workshops and original interactive games on emotions, these projects not only introduces positive parenting skills and mental health knowledge to parents from underprivileged families, but also guides children to learn and embrace their own emotions.
In the workshops led by renowned educator Charles Yu, parents learned the importance of developing their children’s merits at an early age; engaging in rational communication to avoid arguments; and believing in their children’s ability to self-correct and grow through their own mistakes.
To create a culture of empathy at school and at home, the Foundation has partnered with JUST FEEL, a charitable organization that has developed a set of original emotion cards and games to teach children about emotions and how to muster up their courage to express their feelings.
In another collaboration, the Foundation screened the award-winning micro-film “Sounds of Silence” followed by a discussion session across 18 districts. The touching story about an emotionally distressed child helps parents better understand their children and the psychological damage they may feel, which in turn helps them adjust their parenting skills, and develop a positive parent-child relationship.
