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Facing the pandemic together with resilience

June Tang: “The programme was so popular that we received over a hundred applications from caregivers and parents in just a month.”

Navigating under COVID-19 pandemic has become a ‘new normal’ for the Hong Kong people. Ever since the start of 2020, June Tang has been pulling out all the stops to ensure that families in need continue to receive services at the Lok Sin Tong Mok Yip Sui Hung Child Development Centre / Rehabilitation Centre. As the centre-in-charge, she has been supporting children with special education needs (SEN), the elderly with speech and swallowing difficulties, as well as their caregivers. Overwhelmed by the pandemic, however, training at the centre was repeatedly halted. Therapists thus had to organise online consultations and workshops for caregivers to provide basic training to their families or loved ones at home.

June Tang praises the Club for its speedy response during the pandemic. She says The Jockey Club COVID-19 Emergency Fund application process is simple and convenient.

During the fifth wave of COVID-19, June became increasingly worried about the growing pressure on caregivers. “It does nobody any good to be trapped at home for so long,” says June. “In particular, SEN children or seniors struggling with their speech or with swallowing difficulties after a stroke or surgery. They need daily training. However, therapy sessions provided by the Government and NGOs were suspended.” In response to pressing needs, June’s team came up with a programme to provide online consultations and home training advice to caregivers.  Next, they applied for subsidies from The Jockey Club COVID-19 Emergency Fund to carry out the programme.

Within two weeks, the Club had approved the application. Soon after, a multi-disciplinary team consisting of speech therapists, occupational therapists and special child care workers launched the programme. They offered parenting advice and tailor-made home training skills to parents of children with SEN. They also taught communication and feeding skills to caregivers of the elderly with speech and swallowing difficulties.

“The programme was so popular that we received over a hundred applications from caregivers and parents in just a month,” says June. “It may be a one-time consultation, but it does ease the pressure on caregivers when they can consult with therapists and learn home training skills to support their family and loved ones at home.”

June Tang praises the Club for its speedy response during the pandemic. She says The Jockey Club COVID-19 Emergency Fund application process is simple and convenient.
June Tang praises the Club for its speedy response during the pandemic. She says The Jockey Club COVID-19 Emergency Fund application process is simple and convenient.
The Club has supported a host of pandemic measures including the distribution of COVID-19 care packs. Social welfare groups received donations of the Jockey Club Interactive Wonder Box as they sought to find new ways to make learning fun for children during school closures.

“The Club was very open. They just wanted to help those in need.”

The Club donated children’s masks to underprivileged families as well as children with special education needs.

The protracted pandemic has hit disadvantaged families and people with special needs particularly hard. In February 2020, the Club launched the COVID-19 Emergency Fund shortly after the pandemic broke out to provide timely support to those who needed help from NGOs. It also subsidised a range of pandemic measures.

“The Club was very open. They just wanted to help those in need,” June says. “During the most critical stage of the pandemic, the Club’s staff were mostly working from home, but they were really quick in replying and following up on the project. The application process was extremely swift and simple.”

The Club donated children’s masks to underprivileged families as well as children with special education needs.
The Jockey Club Facilities Enhancement Scheme for Pandemic Preparedness at Residential Care Homes offered subsidies to upgrade safety and infection control facilities of residential care homes. The Jockey Club Food Assistance Programme provided food aid to those in need.

Did you know?

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the Club has approved over HK$2.9 billion to address the impact of the pandemic together with NGO partners. Cumulatively over three million people have benefited.

Besides the COVID-19 Emergency Fund, the Club ran a series of targeted measures at different stages of the pandemic. For instance, it distributed data plans and SIM cards to underprivileged students to support their online learning when school classes were suspended, while care packs were provided to the elderly, the disabled and low-income groups. The Jockey Club Community Sustainability Fund offered grants to small-to-medium size community service agencies and sports organisations. The Jockey Club Facilities Enhancement Scheme for Pandemic Preparedness at Residential Care Homes offered subsidies to upgrade safety and infection control facilities of residential care homes, while the Jockey Club Food Assistance Programme provided food aid to those in need.

Information updated to June 2022

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the Club has approved over HK$1.8 billion to address the impact of the pandemic. Cumulatively over three million people have benefited.
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