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SOCIAL WELFARE

are also raised locally to support welfare programmes, while large sums continue to be made available through international agencies for a wide variety of social work. Towards the end of the year, 43 voluntary agencies joined the newly-formed Community Chest of Hong Kong. This was set up by Ordinance as a central fund- raising organization for all the member agencies, so leaving the staff of each agency free to concentrate on welfare work.

The Government is advised on all matters of social welfare policy and on applications from agencies for subventions by a Social Welfare Advisory Committee. This is a body of leading unofficials, chaired by the Director of the department, which plays an important part in guiding development of both policy and practice in the welfare field of the social services.

Much of the expansion of social welfare services will continue to be in new housing areas, and an important aid to this was a decision to construct welfare buildings in new resettlement estates at the rate of one building to 50,000 people. This new type of construction-similar to the annex buildings developed for school- ing will replace ground floor and rooftop accommodation previously available in scattered locations, and will afford op- portunities for better co-ordination and more effective service. Much of the space will be available for voluntary agencies; the Social Welfare Department will set up an intake service in each building and will act as co-ordinator and provide assistance where appropriate. The first of these welfare buildings was completed in November 1968 at the Ham Tin Resettlement Estate and became operational in the following month. Others have been planned for the Shek Lei Estate in Tsuen Wan, and for the Sau Mau Ping and Tsz Wan Shan Estates in New Kowloon.

GROUP AND COMMUNITY WORK

Community development connotes a process by which the people of an area are encouraged to acquire a better appreciation of the problems which affect them both as individuals and as members of the community to which they belong, and by mutual co-operation to promote their well-being and common interests. The concept is not new to the residents of Hong Kong: the 63 kaifong welfare

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