YMCA 2021 November Perspective
30-11-2021
Cover Story
YMCA Wins ESG Reporting Award
Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong has been established in Hong Kong for over 120 years. We have always been a forward-looking and pragmatic organisation. With environmental, social and governance performance becoming increasingly important to society, last year we published our first impact report, recording and publicly reporting our ESG performance. This publication recently won an Excellence in Social Positive Impact Grant Award from the Hong Kong ESG Reporting Association. Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong is the first NGO to win this award!
The HERA Forum 2021 Awards Presentation Luncheon was held on 2 October. Mr Karl Lau, our General Secretary, attended and received the award on behalf of the Association. The NASDAQ Headquarters in New York City also sent congratulations to the Association by displaying our logo on its outdoor screen in New York Times Square, sharing the joy with YMCA members overseas.
Since 2016, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has required listed companies to publish annual ESG reports. Though the business community has increased its focus on ESG, it is still quite unusual for NGOs to publish ESG reports. However, given that two of the main goals of Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong are to promote corporate social responsibility and focus on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – ESG is a priority for us. As such, the Association commissioned the organisation ESG Matters to produce our 2019/20 impact report. The report covers the development and performance of the YMCA in all ESG-related matters from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.
Mr Lau previously spoke about his joy at receiving the HERA Award with readers of the Hong Kong Economic Journal. He mentioned that the award marks a significant milestone in the development of the Association, and is particularly significant given that we are celebrating our 120th anniversary. This year the award is recognition of the hard work put in by all our staff members, and this win motivates the entire Association. Mr Lau said that, “one purpose of publishing the report is to serve as a model for the NGO sector, motivating other organisations to share their ESG experiences with community members, colleagues and others, and encouraging them to engage in ESG reporting. We believe that YMCA has taken a leading role in the NGO sector, especially in the field of social services; so it makes perfect sense to share our ESG development with our beneficiaries, staff and stakeholders across society.”
Riding on this great success, the Association will continue to work towards our four core UN SDGs (numbers 3, 4, 16, and 17), and we will continue to review and adjust our focus on other sustainable development goals. In terms of environmental management, the Association has committed to reducing our energy consumption by 5% from 2016 levels in 2021.
Regarding the services we offer, the YMCA will continue to strive to keep pace with the times. We will spare no effort to optimise our service efficiency, while also working to make our reporting mechanisms even more objective. The Association will gradually introduce more scientific and representative evaluation methods and invite more stakeholders to be part of the evaluations.
As always, we will adhere to our guiding principle: “To serve, not to be served” as we dedicate ourselves to helping God’s creation become more sustainable.
To learn more about our ESG report of 2019-2020, please visit:
https://www.ymca.org.hk/zh-hant/content/esgreport
What's New
YMCA Charity Bid!
As part of the YMCA’s 120th anniversary celebrations, the Association is organising an online charity bid. The bid will have items donated by philanthropists covering a range of categories. Some of these are quite precious, including limited edition Tokyo Olympics souvenirs donated by representatives of the Hong Kong Olympic Team; and unique items autographed by artists.
All proceeds from the auction will go to our Realise Love, Realise Dreams Foundation and be used for charity purposes. Recent endeavours by the Foundation include helping a boy with a rare disease become a YouTube star, and purchasing computers and internet equipment to help elderly people realise their dreams.
This auction is supported by different enthusiasts across the society, reflecting UN SDG Number 17: “Strengthening the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development”. Taking part in this charity auction will not only allow you to help the needy, but also obtain some of your favourite items – so please, give the auction your full support!
Please support us!
Charity bid website - https://charitybid.ymca.org.hk/
“Realise Love, Realise Dreams" website - https://www.ymca.org.hk/en/realiselove
Let's Catch“1,2,0”
To celebrate YMCA’s 120th anniversary, the Association will be launching a prize event for the public to express its gratitude for their support. From 1 December, members whose proof of identity contains 1", "2" or "0" (at least one number) will be eligible to redeem a special YMCA 120th-anniversary edition badge ( at the designated 20 social service units, a total of 1200 badges will be given away.
Non-member whose proof of identity contains 1", "2" or "0 can enjoy a 1-year free family membership (worth $50), and participate in the diversified activities and interest courses organized by the Association. Spread your words to your friends and relatives to join us, and members should act quickly to win the prize!
Details can be found on https://www.120.ymca.org.hk/?lang=en
IGF Online Workshop Opens Free Registration
The annual “Internet Governance Forum” (IGF) initiated by the United Nations draws people from around the world to discuss online issues. This year, the YMCA IGF Alumni Development Group successfully applied for organising two forum sessions in the name of the YMCA, as well as individuals and universities. The event will be hosted in December.
Topic 1: Technological assistance emphasis on teenagers during the pandemic — is it fair to distribute resources in such a way?
Date: 6 December 2021(Monday)
Time: 6:15pm to 7:15pm (HK Time)
Topic 2: Fintech: A sustainable development economy of inclusivity?
Date：9 December 2021(Thursday)
Time: 4:30pm to 6pm (HK Time)
Link for registration：https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/igf-2021-registration
Please fill out the below information:
Organization: CHINESE YMCA OF HONG KONG
Stakeholder Group: CIVIL SOCIETY
Regional Group: ASIA PACIFIC
Please visit IGF Official YouTube Channel to review the workshop https://www.youtube.com/user/igf
Highlights of our Activities
Plastic-Free Cycling Tour
The“Plastic-Free Cycling Tour”was one of the highlight events of our Plastic-Free Hong Kong 2021 campaign. This event was successfully held on the 7th of this month, when nearly 150 participants gathered at Wu Kwai Sha Youth Villa
ge to embark on a round-trip ride to Sheng Shui and back, without leaving any trace.
The event was attended by several notable people, including Mr Philip Poon, Vice President of Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong; Mr Bonson Lee Hing-wai, Deputy General Secretary / Chief Social Services Office of Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong; Ms Janet Chan, Lecturer of the School of Biological Sciences and Programme Coordinator of the Master of Science in Environmental Management degree at the University of Hong Kong; Ms Iris Yuen, the Director of the Eco-Institute; and Mrs Ho Ka Bo, senior project manager at Green Sense. Each of them shared their wisdom and experience about environmental protection matters with the attendees.
Official website: http://nopb.ymca.org.hk.
The YMCA’s Bridges Street Centre tour docents recognised
The YMCA Bridges Street Centre Public Tour was a hit earlier this year. Mr Kaul Lau, our General Secretary and Mr Michael Kwok, the Chair of Arup East Asia, an engineering firm, both seconded staff to the Bridges Street Centre to act as docents for the public tour.
Mr Lau expressed his appreciation to Arup for sending professional engineers to actively participate in the docent training, saying that, “their presence added architectural elements into the content of the guided tour, resulting in an innovative‘crossover’event that was full of surprises!”
After the tour came to a close, Mr Lau and Mr Kwok presented certificates of commendation to four volunteer docents, expressing the Association’s gratitude for their contributions.
For more on the event, click here: http://120bridgessttours.ymca.org.hk
Hong Kong Secondary School Mini-Movie Competition 2021
On 13 November, the Hong Kong Secondary School Mini-Movie Competition 2021 pulled back the curtain and launched with a sharing session hosted by the competition’s publicity ambassador, Mr Chiu Sin Hang. He shared his production and acting experiences with the participating students, and encouraged them to be bold and creative in their approach to movie production.
In addition to the director’s sharing session, we will hold a recording production workshop and a studio dubbing and mixing workshop before the end of the year, helping the participants learn important aspects of mini-movie production. The workshops received an overwhelming response, and the registrations are now at full capacity.
The winners of the 2021 competition will receive prizes worth about HKD 80,000 Hong Kong dollars. Each category features a Gold, Silver, and Bronze award, as well as Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography. All secondary students are welcome to join, but you’ll need to move fast: the submission deadline is 1 January 2022!
Official website: https://www.ymca.org.hk/minimovie2021
Discover YMCA Channel
YMCA' s 120th Anniversary Professional Seminar Highlights
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