Social_Welfare_Annual_Report_1960-1961 — Page 27

CHAPTER XII

COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL CENTRES

78. A donation of HK$1,150,000 from the United States Govern- ment for World Refugee Year enabled Hong Kong's first community centre to be opened officially in July. The centre is located at the Wong Tai Sin resettlement estate which accommodates more than 60,000 people, a third of whom are children under 10. The estate, made up of seven-storeyed blocks, is a highly compressed 'new town' filled with people from various parts of China thrown together largely by chance. It is the purpose of the centre to help these people to find their roots in Hong Kong and to develop a sense of citizenship. The centre is a four-storeyed building modelled along the lines of a standard 24-classroom Government primary school.

79. Four voluntary organizations have accommodation for their work at the centre: the Hong Kong Christian Welfare and Relief Council, which provided 160 primary school graduates with basic courses in electrical work; the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society, which ministered to the needs of some 1,500 families which encoun- tered difficulties due to unemployment, illness, personal stress, etc.; the Chinese Y.M.C.A., which assisted some 120 young people daily to develop their interests and skill in sport, drama and various forms of art and handicraft; and the Maryknoll Sisters, who operated a day nursery for about 160 children.

80. The Department is responsible for managing the centre and has also organized a wide variety of group activities and other services. These included, besides those mentioned elsewhere in this Report, an information desk to provide proper direction for those seeking help or advice in or outside the centre; two recreation clubs for school children between the ages of 8 and 14, a children's corner providing story telling, simple handwork and music appreciation classes for some 40 children at a time; four mothers' clubs with about 40 members each, which met twice a week for sewing sessions, talks on mothercraft, health and hygiene, picnics, amateur plays, etc.; two fathers' clubs with about 60 members each meeting two evenings a week; and a host of other facili- ties, either in the main hall or on the roof, such as language classes in English and Mandarin, yoga, basket-ball, folk-dancing, shadow-boxing, first aid, singing, film shows, concerts, puppet shows, and so on.

81. In October, the staff at the centre, in co-operation with volun- tary organizations, the Resettlement Department and health officers,

21