PATRON

The Honourable Leung Chung Ying, GBM, GBS, JP
Chief Executive
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

VICE-PATRONS

Mrs Marjorie Bray
Dr Bessie Chiang
Mrs Helen Kwok
Professor Dennis S.C. Lam
Mr Clive Oxley, OBE ED
Professor C.K. Poon, OBE, GBS, JP

Council Members 2012/13

CHAIRMAN

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin

VICE-CHAIRMAN

Mr Michael Szeto Chak Wah

HON TREASURER

Mr Patrick Ng Wing Hang

HON LEGAL ADVISOR

Mr Peter Chan Kin Sang

HON MEDICAL ADVISOR

Dr Hui Siu Ping

MEMBERS

Mr Chong Chan Yau
Ms Susan Ho Suet Fun
Ms Winnie Kong Lai Wan
Dr Vincent Kwan Pun Fong 
Mr Lawrence Lai Man Leung 
Ms Ida Lam Choi Chu
Mrs Fanny Lam Fan Kit Fong
Mr Lam Wai Pong

CO-OPTED MEMBERS

Dr Clement Chan Wai Nang 
Mr Peter Lam Chung Yun

EX-OFFICIO MEMBER

Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi 
(Chief Executive)

Committees

AUDIT COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Ms Winnie Kong Lai Wan

MEMBERS

Ms Eva Chow Yee Fei
Mr Lawrence Lai Man Leung
Mr Paul A Moore
Mr Joseph Tam Shun Tai (from Dec 2012)

STAFF REPRESENTATIVE

Ms Katherine Szeto Dick Ka 
(Internal Auditor)

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin
Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi

EYE CARE & VOCATIONAL SERVICES COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Dr Hui Siu Ping

MEMBERS

Mr Joseph Kwan Kwok Lok
Dr Kenneth Sin Kuen Fung
Mr Yan Wa Tat

STAFF REPRESENTATIVE

Mr Joseph Cho Chun Wah 
(Director, Clinical & Vocational Services)

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin 
Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi

FACTORY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Mr Michael Szeto Chak Wah

MEMBERS

Mr Colin Bosher
Ms Winnie Kong Lai Wan
Mr Lawrence Lai Man Leung
Mr Christopher Marquis

STAFF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr Joseph Cho Chun Wah 
(Director, Clinical & Vocational Services)
Ms Phoenix Cheung Mei Fung 
(Factory Manager)

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin
Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Mr Patrick Ng Wing Hang

MEMBERS

Dr Vincent Kwan Pun Fong
Mr Peter Lam Chung Yun

STAFF REPRESENTATIVES

Ms Kany Wong Kan Ying 
(Director, Finance & Business Development)
Ms Fannie Wong Siu Fun 
(Director, Human Resources & Administration)

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin
Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi

REHABILITATION SERVICES COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Ms Ida Lam Choi Chu

MEMBERS

Mr Jason Ho Ka Leung
Ms Virginia Pak Lai Sheung
Mr Tsang Kin Ping

STAFF REPRESENTATIVE

Ms Kitty Chung Shuk Ming 
(Director, Rehabilitation Services)

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin
Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi

RESIDENTIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Mr Lam Wai Pong

MEMBERS

Ms Shirley Cheung Yuet Mei
Dr Ho Chi Kin
Ms Susan Ho Suet Fun
Mr Benson Lo Tak Wing
Ms Amy Tso Lei Lei

STAFF REPRESENTATIVE

Ms Doreen Mui Siu Ping 
(Director, Residential Services)

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin 
Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi

PUBLICITY & FUND-RAISING COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin

MEMBERS

Ms Winnie Kong Lai Wan
Mr Lawrence Lai Man Leung 
Mr Lam Wai Pong 
Mr Patrick Ng Wing Hang

EX-OFFICIO MEMBER

Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi

YUEN LONG HOME REDEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Mr Lam Wai Pong

MEMBERS

Dr Ho Chi Kin
Mr Patrick Ng Wing Hang

PROJECT CONSULTANTS

Architect

Professor Patrick Lau Sau Shing

Quantity Surveyor

Mr Yu Hon Kong

Structural Engineer

Mr Ng Kam Tong

M & E Consultant

Mr Raymond Tam Kit Man

Project Management Team

Mr Carlos Lau Chung Yue
Mr Ricky Ng Kwok Pui

HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB CHARITIES TRUST REPRESENTATIVE

Ms Irene So Mui Ling

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Miss Nancy Law Tak Yin
Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi

Other Committees

CENTRALISED BRAILLE PRODUCTION CENTRE STEERING COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Ms Kitty Chung Shuk Ming 
(Director, Rehabilitation Services)

VICE-CHAIRMAN

Ms Mok Siu Lai (Ebenezer School)

MEMBERS

Mr Jason Ho Ka Leung (Hong Kong Blind Union)
Ms Christine Ng 
(Special Education Support Section 1, Education Bureau)
Mr Lo King Hang 
(Special Education Support Section 1, Education Bureau)

OBSERVER

Ms Ho Yee Wan 
(Parent Representative, Ebenezer School Parent and 
Staff Association)

STAFF REPRESENTATIVES

Ms Emily Chan Lai Yee 
(Manager, Information Accessibility Centre)
Ms Lynda Chung Kin Mui 
(Supervisor, Centralised Braille Production Centre)
Ms Rosa Ng Tin Yu 
(Assistant Supervisor, Centralised Braille Production Centre)

INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY CENTRE USERS' COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Ms Kitty Chung Shuk Ming 
(Director, Rehabilitation Services)

MEMBERS

Mr Kwan Chi Wai
Mr Leung Wai Pui
Ms Lee Yuen Sai
Mr Terry Lau Shiu Cheong
Mr Lo Keng Chi

STAFF REPRESENTATIVES

Ms Emily Chan Lai Yee 
(Manager, Information Accessibility Centre)
Miss Chung Fung Kam 
(Senior Library Assistant, Information Accessibility Centre)

DEAFBLIND REHABILITATION PROGRAMME ADVISORY COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Ms Amy Tso Lei Lei

MEMBERS

Ms Shirley Cheung Yuet Mei 
(Ebenezer New Hope School)
Ms Celina Chung Suk Han 
(Caritas Jockey Club Lok Yan School)
Ms Choi Lui Yin 
(The Mental Health Association of Hong Kong Cornwall School)
Mr Eddie Wong Kam Yuen  
(The Hong Kong Society for the Deaf)

STAFF REPRESENTATIVES

Ms Doreen Mui Siu Ping 
(Director, Residential Services)
Ms Cansy Li Po Ling 
(Superintendent, Morning Glory Day Activity Centre cum Hostel)
Ms Chan Wai Ping 
(Social Worker, Rehabilitation Centre)

PARENTS RESOURCE CENTRE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

CHAIRMAN

Mr Edward Kwok Ho Lai

MEMBERS

Dr Kenneth Sin Kuen Fung
Mrs Ellen Yip Ng So Yue

STAFF REPRESENTATIVES

Ms Maureen Tam Ching Yi 
(Chief Executive)
Mr Joseph Cho Chun Wah 
(Director, Clinical & Vocational Services)
Ms Kitty Chung Shuk Ming 
(Director, Rehabilitation Services)
Ms Penelope Yeung Ho Yan  
(Supervisor, Parents Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired Children)

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Chairman’s Foreword

In this age of advanced development of information technology, for the purpose of enabling the visually impaired to keep up with the times, participate more often in different social activities, develop their interests and lead a fruitful life, since 2011, the Society has been conducting audio description service for movies.  It allows the visually impaired to go to cinema with their families and friends to enjoy movies, thus fostering social inclusion.  Through audio description, messages or plots presented in the form of actions and special visual effects are no longer barriers to the visually impaired in enjoying movies.

To enable the visually impaired to experience the environment, enjoy natural beauty, explore historical spots and so on, the Society extended audio description service to other activities over the past year.  These included outdoor visits, concerts, dramas, bringing new experience to the visually impaired of different age with different interests.

Jointly organized with Ebenezer School and Home for the Visually Impaired, our "4 Users 4 Dogs" (4U4D) Guide Dog Pilot Project achieved satisfactory results over the past year. The first group of two users and their guide dogs completed training in USA and returned to Hong Kong in July 2012, while the second batch came back this year. It marked a new milestone in re-establishing guide dog service in Hong Kong after more than thirty years.  The joint working group, comprising staff members from the Society and Ebenezer School, carried out a series of activities for promotion and public education in the past year. Leaflets were distributed to major transport operators, restaurants, chain stores, hotels, shopping malls, government departments and public service organizations.  Posters were put up in Mass Transit Railway stations. Talks were arranged to help staff from a number of corporations understand the role of guide dogs, as well as the ways to assist guide dog users in using public services including entering or leaving the venues.  Various media also helped in making reports and feature stories about the Guide Dog Users and their Guide Dogs.  All these activities were effective in promoting guide dogs as a mobility aid to the visually impaired.

We are grateful to the Leos of Lions Club of Victoria Hong Kong for their organization of two innovative events for our visually impaired members.  The first one was "Eyetopia Artogether".  Tens of young volunteers from the Club and members of Methodist Centre were recruited to conduct four "Draw Smiles for Joyful Life" workshops in March 2012. They taught the visually impaired participants to draw in the workshop.  On 15th April 2012, a large scale outdoor jigsaw activity was held and more than one hundred persons gathered to put the drawings of smile together.  The second event was "Eyetopia Cook-together" held in March 2013.  Fifty-eight visually impaired persons and young students were invited to form cooking teams and compete in making delicious food. In these two events, our visually impaired members enriched their life experience as they had the chance to make new attempts and meet people from different walks of life.

With the approval from Social Welfare Department, the Society held its Flag Day on 19th January 2013 to raise funds for Factory for the Blind, Joyful Home, Career Support and Development Centre and public education projects.  A total of 6,500 volunteers were recruited as flag sellers.  Both the number of participants and the amount of funds raised were the highest in our history.

Arising from the complexity of the foundation work, the Yuen Long Home for the Aged Blind Redevelopment Project fell behind schedule.  Due to continuous inflation and wage increase, the total construction costs exceed the original budget.  We wish that, with the efforts of all parties concerned, the new building can be successfully completed in late 2014 to provide a pleasant home for the visually impaired elderly and multiple disabled people with residential needs.

The Society continues to strive for innovation and betterment of its services.  Apart from dedication and diligence of our staff, we also need assistance from individual and corporate volunteers as well as donations from supporters for our various services.  In order to thank the donors and volunteers, we held in March 2013 the biennial Volunteers cum Corporate Supporters Recognition Ceremony with a new addition of giving appreciation to our donors.

I would like to thank all members of the Council, Committees and advisory groups for providing expert advice on various services of the Society. Furthermore, on behalf of the Council, I would like to thank the Chief Executive and all staff for their continuous efforts.

Looking ahead, let us join hands to continue our services to provide a brighter future for the visually impaired.

Nancy Law

 

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Chief Executive’s Report

Employees are precious resources of an organization. Despite a tough financial situation in recent years, the Social Welfare Development Fund (SWDF) launched since 2010, has enabled the Hong Kong Society for the Blind to make good use of the fund for organizing a number of training programmes to improve the work skills and quality of our staff members. These included courses organized by the Human Resources Department to meet the training needs of staff members in different job positions, and subsidy given to staff members enrolled for job-related courses, to enrich their work skills and knowledge so as to increase their training opportunities for personal advancement and promotion.

The Phase 1 of SWDF came to a conclusion on 31 March 2013. Over the past three years, the Society conducted 137 training courses for frontline workers, drivers, care workers, nurses, social workers, therapists, clerical staff and departmental supervisors, that made up a total attendance of 4,783 by headcount. Professional staff members of different ranks from different units, were supported to attend overseas international conferences each year.  For instance, the 14th International Mobility Conference and the International Braille Conference in 2011, the 11th World Blind Union Asia Pacific Regional Seminar On Massage, the 2012 International Low Vision Conference, the 8th Information Accessibility Forum of China, the General Meeting of World Blind Union cum International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment and the General Meeting of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness in 2012. Besides, exchange tours to special schools in Central and Southern Taiwan were arranged for staff members of the Deafblind Rehabilitation Programme. Through overseas exchanges and sharing with colleagues in report-back sessions upon return, the professional staff members were able to widen their horizons by learning new technologies and service delivery approaches, that foster the development of our  professional services for the visually impaired.

Besides, occupational safety and health was actively promoted over the past three years. The Agency Occupational Safety and Health Committee was set up in 2010.  The Committee gave training to "assessors" nominated by each department to conduct lifting assessment for newly joined frontline staff, and to provide frontline staff members skills training for manual handling work.  Apart from these, the Committee designed assessment forms to facilitate regular departmental workplace hazards inspection, so as to reduce avoidable injuries and accidents. As for staff members who engaged in prolonged operation of desktop computers, the Hong Kong Workers' Health Centre had been invited to conduct risk assessment on display screen equipment. Improvements were made as advised, for replacement of suitable chairs and rearrangement of desktop computer accessories for occupational health and safety.

In addition to the above OSH assessments, the Committee encouraged staff members to do more physical exercises. Doing stretching exercise before work has been introduced to residential service units, which is then gradually extended to other departments including those doing heavy deskwork tasks.

The Society has also put effort in advocating work life balance. Since 2010, during the Work-Life-Balance Week in every October, healthy food packs consisting of healthy diet booklets, healthy snacks, fruit and origami games for leisure were distributed to all staff members. Different interest classes, for example, tai chi, yoga, dessert making, photography, origami, Chinese calligraphy and etc, have been organized for staff at their leisure time. The above are all popular among staff. To promote work place friendship, staff outing has been organized once every year and they are encouraged to bring their family members to join the outing to foster friendship among staff.

As an organization serving the underprivileged, human resources development is very important. To show our respect to staff members, since 2010, regular channels have been set up to facilitate communication between staff and the management. The Staff Consultation Day is held twice a year and there is a Forum on Internal Policies held yearly since 2011. In these meetings, the latest administrative policies and new services were shared.  Staff members are encouraged to express opinions and share their work experience and wisdom. Meanwhile, staff members who demonstrate great enthusiasm and dedication at work with patience for serving our clients, would be given due recognition in the annual Outstanding Employee Award. All of the above exert a positive drive to both staff members and the Society as a whole.

Over the past two years, due to a tight labour market, frontline workers were in acute shortage and there were high staff turnover. There is an apparent need for more support and  care to retain the new recruits. The Lump Sum Grant Subvention scheme that make use of mid-point salary to calculate the subvention level has been in use for over twelve years. As employees recruited under the scheme are increasing in age, it puts greater and greater pressure on the Society. A review of the benchmark level is absolutely imperative. Facing financial restraints, although there are family-friendly employment measures to meet the needs and interests of staff, reasonable salaries are essential for retaining those who are willing to work for the underprivileged.

Maureen Tam

 

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Highlights of Events

2013 FLAG DAY

The 2013 Flag Day was organized on 19 January. Over 6,500 volunteers were recruited. We were grateful to the volunteers who made great effort to fill up the flag bags by approaching every potential donor on the street.  A total sum of over $2.5 million was raised.  The fund will be used for further improvement of services for our service users. 

 

"4 USERS 4 DOGS" GUIDE DOG USERS TRAINING PILOT PROJECT

Funded by the S K Yee Medical Foundation, the first "4 Users 4 Dogs" Guide Dog Users Training Pilot Project was launched in March 2011 by the Hong Kong Society for the Blind and Ebenezer School and Home for the Visually Impaired, with Hong Kong Guide Dogs Association as the co-organizer.  

Four visually impaired persons were sent to the Guiding Eyes for the Blind in the United States, a guide dog training school accredited by the International Guide Dog Federation, for guide dog matching and attandance of a 26-day training session.  They returned with their guide dogs Deanna, Nana, Nera and Rally in July 2012 & March 2013 respectively.  Upon return, the guide dog users were given three-week local training by Mr Ian Cox, an international guide dog consultant, to help the guide dogs to get familiar with the road situation in Hong Kong.  Thanks to the support from Hong Kong people, the four guide dogs have been able to integrate into Hong Kong's society in a short time.

 

2013 VOLUNTEERS, DONORS CUM CORPORATE SUPPORTERS APPRECIATION CEREMONY

To show appreciation to our dedicated volunteers for their unfailing support and contribution, the biennual Volunteers cum Corporate Supporters Appreciation Ceremony was held on 22 March 2013. More than 300 volunteers including individuals, service groups and organizations who had provided services in 2011 and 2012 were awarded Golden Diamond, Purple Crystal, Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards respectively; while 33 individuals, groups and corporations were awarded the "Caring Corporation/Supporter".  There were a total of 1,095 volunteers providing over 50,000 hours voluntary services to the visually impaired persons during the past two years.

To express our gratitude for the generous donations from donors, the "Generous Giving Angel Award", "Long-term Giving Award" and "Excellence Care Award" were presented to 80 donors/corporations for the first time this year.

 

Under the theme of "Eyetopia", we joined hands with the Lions Club of Victoria Hong Kong and the Leo Club of Victoria Hong Kong to organize two inclusion activities - "Eyetopia" in two consecutive years.  The project aimed to arouse public awareness of the needs and difficulties faced by the visually impaired in daily life, and to create opportunities to foster interaction between the visually impaired and sighted people for building a harmonious society.

EYETOPIA ARTOGETHER DRAWING CARNIVAL CUM CLOSING CEREMONY

The "Eyetopia Artogether Drawing Carnival cum Closing Ceremony" was held on 15 April 2012. Over 230 visually impaired people and students drew their own paintings that were put together to form a 8m x 12m big picture with the assistance of over 150 volunteers.  The painting aimed to put across a joyful and positive message to the public.

 

EYETOPIA COOK-TOGETHER, "COOK WITH HEART, TASTE WITH LOVE": WORKSHOP, COOKING COMPETITION CUM CLOSING AND AWARD PRESENTATION CEREMONY

The "Eyetopia Cook-Together" workshop was conducted on 2 March 2013, while the cooking competition cum Closing and Award Presentation Ceremony was held on 16 March 2013 at the Causeway Bay Town Gas Cooking Centre.  Twenty visually impaired members joined the competition and eight of them were given different awards in recognition of their outstanding cooking skills and creativity.

 

PUBLICATION OF "DEVELOPMENT OF AUDIO DESCRIPTION FOR HONG KONG FILMS 2011-2012"

The first publication on "Development of Audio Description for Hong Kong Films 2011-2012" was published in June 2012. It describes the development of audio description for films in Hong Kong, and summarizes the training activities and achievements made during the year.

 

VENTURE IN THE DARK MUSIC CONCERT

Rehabilitation Centre collaborated with  the St Stephen's College Preparatory School and PMA Music Foundation to organize three fund raising music concerts on 21 April 2012.  Over 500 school students, parents and guests joined the event. An indoor mini music park was created by filling the hall with music played from different musical instruments, sound made by different objects, and materials with different texture, which gave the audience a unique experience in total darkness.

 

 

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Rehabilitation Services

REHABILITATION CENTRE (RC)

Enrolment

The Centre recorded 151 case enrolments and a total of 119 referrals.  Over the year, 71 visually impaired service users completed the various independent living skills training programmes conducted at the Centre, while 67 trainees completed route orientation programme.

Service Enhancement

With the 10% One-off Supplementary Allocation from the Community Chest 2012/13, community-based training in the form of short-term training in Orientation and Mobility, home management skills and techniques of daily living had been rendered to those applicants on waiting list including the newly blind. During the year, 100 newly blind were served and 200 sessions of pre-training/home visits were conducted.

Professional Growth of Staff Team

In order to provide suitable and timely rehabilitative training to the visually impaired, professional team meetings of Home Management Skills and O&M training were held regularly to review individual cases and do sharing among teammates for enhancement of their professional skills and techniques of teaching.  Moreover, on-job training and orientation for the new instructors had been provided by Senior Instructors. 

Public Education

In the past year, the staff team of the Rehabilitation Centre provided courses on effective communication skills with the visually impaired and sighted guide talks for NGOs, corporations and schools.Altogether 44 talks were conducted with 2,295 participants.

Publicity

The Centre provided professional consultation for the film production of "A Wall-less World III" for Radio Television Hong Kong.  Miss Rose Chan received training on O&M and daily living skills on 15 and 21 June 2012 respectively. The Centre Supervisor, Social Worker and Unit-In-charge of Orientation & Mobility Training Unit, together with 3 trainees, attended the press conference of the film on 7 July 2012 at Telford Plaza.

Barrier Free Facilities Site Inspection and Visit to Guangzhou

Fifteen site inspections were conducted by visually impaired members in the company of our Instructors in 2012-13.

Supervisor and Unit-In-charge of Orientation & Mobility Training Unit attended site visit to the barrier free facilities in Guangzhou on 31 May 2012.  Twenty-four participants from different visually impaired agencies joined the visit. We studied the talking sign facilities for the disabled at the airport, bus stops in Guangzhou and the talking devices installed in the building of Guangzhou Disabled Person's Federation.

DEAFBLIND TRAINING PROGRAMME

Thanks to the support from the Standard Chartered HK 150th Anniversary Community Foundation through its donation to the Hong Kong Community Chest, the unique service and training for the deafblind continued in the year.  During the year, 21 deafblind persons  were trained and seven of them were living in the community.

Professional Training

Three in-service training workshops were conducted for 33 staff members of the Morning Glory DAC cum Hostel in August and December 2012 respectively. It helped staff members to understand deafblindness and the ways of communicating with deafblind people.  Rev Dr. Cyril Axelrod, Honorary Consultant of Deafblind Rehabilitation Programme, hosted a professional training workshop on tips of communication with deafblind for 12 rehabilitation workers and special school teachers.

The 3rd batch of "Certificate Course for Communication/Guide for the Deafblind Level One-Basic" and the 1st Level Two-Intermediate were successfully organized. Seventeen course members of Level One and 16 course members of Level Two completed the courses and passed the assessments.  They would become accredited communicator/guide to provide communicator/guide service for the deafblind.

Overseas Exchange

Between 4-7 April 2012, 17 deafblind services workers, including the frontline workers, teachers and administrators from the Deafblind Rehabilitation Programme Advisory Committee, and three special schools, went to Kaohsiung and Tainan, Taiwan for study visit.  The visits to the Taiwan University's Department of Special Education, and three special schools for the visually impaired and the hearing impaired were inspiring.

"You are not Alone" Deafblind Project

"Learning Tactile Sign Language with Fun" was conducted in the form of soft clay making and quilling art for 24 deafblind members.  Deafblind members were able to show their talents in touch sense and handicraft-making in these handicraft workshops. On 22 January 2013, Mr. Gregory So, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, paid a visit to the Resource Centre for the Deafblind and showed appreciation to the handicrafts made by the deafblind members.

SERVICE DATE 12/13

As at 31 March 2013

Deafblind Training Programme

Number of Graduates	10
Number of Trainees	11

Rehabilitation Centre

Age Profile

 

16-29	7
30-39	6
40-49	14
50-59	18
60-69	15
70 or above	24

 

Analysis of Trainees' Causes of Blindness

 

Diabetic Retinopathy	5
Retinitis Pigmentosa	14
Retinal Detachment /  Retinal Degeneration	9
Glaucoma	11
Cataract	1
Macular Disease	17
Retina Disease	6
Optic Atrophy	3
Brain Tumor / Cancer	4
Congenital Defects	8
Unclassified	6

 

Enrollments and Referrals

Case referrals received	119
Enrollments	151

Trainees number in Various Subjects

Home Management Skills

Cookery	78
Techniques of Daily Living	84

Social & Educational Activities

Music Class	39
Community Life Education	116
Social & Educational Programmes	83
Monthly Outings (average attendannces)	45

Counselling and Group Sessions

Individual Counselling	207
Self-help Group Meetings	11
Group Meetings	47

Orientation & Mobility Skills and Physical Exercise

Orientation & Mobility Training	94
Route Orientation	67
Physcical Exercise	121

Communication Skills

Reading / Writing in Braille	62
Putonghua	25
Handwriting	56
Computer Training	64

 

  
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Employment Services

CAREER SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

The 4th Advanced Massage Training Course

The 4th Advanced Massage Training Course was organized to enhance the knowledge and skills of the visually impaired masseurs. It started in October 2011 with four subjects: Aromatherapy Massages Therapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine on the Treatment of Tendon Injury, Palpation Diagnosis and Massage Therapy for Common Urban Diseases.  The course was completed in August 2012 and more than 24 visually impaired masseurs upgraded their skills and knowledge after the training. The graduation ceremony was held in November 2012.  Mr. Qian Pengjiang, President of the China Disabled Persons' Federation Employment Service and Administration Centre (China Blind Massage Administration Centre), attended the ceremony as the officiating guest, and presented certificates to the graduates.

Training Course on Piano Tuning and Maintenance

Three visually impaired job seekers were selected among 26 applicants to receive training on piano tuning and maintenance in March 2012.  The training was sponsored by the Chan Dang Social Services Foundation and the Community Chest.  After having completed the training and passed the examination in Mainland China, the qualified piano tuners will be offered jobs by the Factory for the Blind to serve individuals and organizations.

Empower Shop

Empower Shop is a job training platform for the visually impaired job seekers.  A new branch of the shop was opened at the East Wing lobby of the headquarters building in April 2012, to provide more training opportunities for the visually impaired job seekers and to strengthen the quality of training.  It also gave more people in the community the chance to understand the working ability of visually impaired persons.

Continuing Education for the Visually Impaired

With the generous support of the Dr. Karen Lee Scholarship for the Visually Impaired, one visually impaired student completed the course named "Broadcasting Programme Hosting and Production" offered by the Open University of Hong Kong in June 2012.  Two visually impaired persons, who are talented in music, took courses in piano playing and music composition with the support from the scholarship.  The completion of these courses would be helpful in developing their future careers in the respective field.

Employment Survey

A survey on the employment situation of our members was conducted from July to August in 2012. One Hundred & Sixty-four members were interviewed.  The findings showed that most of our visually impaired  members were engaged in personal care service (e.g. masseur) and social welfare service (e.g. programme assistant or social worker).  We will continue to provide job seekers with the necessary support, such as massage skill training courses, computer training and internship programmes to enhance their abilities  and competitiveness in the open market.

Self-Study Room and Computer Room Equipment Enhancement

Thanks to the support of the S.K.Yee Fund for the Disabled and The Jockey Club IT Scheme for People with Visual Impairment, new computers, braille displays, magnifying and screen reading software were purchased and installed in the self-study rooms and computer room, to facilitate the job search and training of the visually impaired people.

Exhibition and Demonstration of Daily Living Aids and Appliances for Visually Impaired People

Seven exhibitions cum demonstration activities were conducted in the year to raise public awareness of the needs of the visually impaired.  The participants included teachers from ordinary schools, our staff and the public.

Training Classes and Programmes

During the year under review, the Centre organized a series of job-related training courses.  Altogether 31 classes and programmes were held with a total of 72 members attending.

Volunteer Support

Volunteers were recruited to provide supports to the Centre by escorting the visually impaired job seekers to attend job interviews, assisting the trainees in the mobile sale activities of the Empower Shop, repairing canes, maintaining computers in the self-study rooms and computer zone.  The volunteers also introduced appropriate modification to the environment and facilities of the Centre to improve the occupational safety for its staff and members.

THE FACTORY FOR THE BLIND

Sales

The Factory sales of 2012/13 were $13.13M, representing a decrease of 0.74% over the same period in 2011/12.  The drop was caused mainly by a delay in the delivery of the ordered machineries to improve output.

Compare with the same period in 2011/12, the sales of Assembling Section and Customer Service Centre increased by 54.67% and 1.93% respectively, whereas the sales of Sewing, Paper Box and Filing Tag Sections declined by 13.46%, 1.08% and 4.67% respectively.

Factory's Annual Outing 2012

The Factory's annual outing was held on 10 November 2012 for a trip to the Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery in Quarry Bay.  Altogether 220 participants including 157 service users, 37 staff and 26 volunteers attended.

New Machineries and IT System Acquired to Improve Productivity

The Factory acquired a grant at $215,942 from the Social Welfare Development Fund in December 2010 for the development of a Material Requirement & Production Planning System to store, retrieve and update all the production and customer data real time on-line.  The system will be launched in April 2013 to improve efficiency for processing business orders and to improve the overall production flow. 

Supported by the One-off Time-defined Supplementary grant from the Social Welfare Department, the Factory purchased a new 3-colour flex printing machine in the sum of $712,050.  The procurement exercise was concluded in March 2013. With this machine, the printing quality of the Factory's paper products would be improved in 2013/14.

Supported by the fund raised on the Society's 2012/13 Flag Day, the Factory purchased a Serial Die-Cutting and Creasing Machine in the sum of $371,000. The machine will be delivered to the Factory in June 2013 to produce bigger die-cut boxes and improve the Factory's competitiveness in the paper box market.

Future Development

To be in line with the Society's mission, the Factory will focus on providing more job opportunities for persons with visual impairment. Hence, more effort will be placed on promoting its piano tuning and piano teaching businesses in the coming year.  More visually impaired piano tuners and piano teachers will be employed to cope with the growth in piano tuning and piano teaching job orders.

HEALTH MASSAGE AND TREATMENT CENTRE

Business Performance

The business of the two Centres, S. K. Yee Health Massage and Treatment Centre, and the Bernard van Zuiden Health Massage and Treatment Centre were keeping well for the year.  The total revenue from massage services, beauty therapies and beauty products were HK$6,842,000, with a slight increase of 1.5% when compared with last year.  During the year, 24 visually impaired staff members including masseurs/masseuses, beauty masseuse and massage assistants, were employed.

20th Anniversary Celebration

2012 marked the 20th anniversary for the S.K. Yee Health Massage and Treatment Centre.  The Centre was able to provide job opportunities for the visually impaired and let them fully demonstrate to the public their expertise and potentials since its establishment in 1992.  Customers, suppliers,  former staff members and retired masseur joined our 20th Anniversary Celebration Tea Party in June 2012, to share our happiness and achievements.

Fee Adjustment

To cope with the increase of operating and maintenance costs, massage service fees at the Bernard van Zuiden Health Massage and Treatment Centre increased by 6% with effect from 1 November 2012.  There was also an increase of fees by 10%  at the S.K. Yee Health Massage and Treatment Centre effective as from 1 January 2013.  The increases were considered acceptable to the customers as both Centres had not made the fee adjustment for years. 

Customer Service Enhancement

For long-term business development, the Bernard van Zuiden Health Massage and Treatment Centre also installed the WeM Beauty System in July 2012, which had been in use at the S.K. Yee Health   Massage and Treatment Centre since 2006. The system keeps customers' personal information, service transaction history and inventory record of the two Centres. It facilitated the management to plan different kinds of marketing activities such as promotional sales for beauty treatments and products, cross-selling  and customers loyalty programme.

Mobile Massage Team

The mobile massage team continued its service to the clubhouse customers and it had been extended to a number of Caring Companies and professional institutions during the year.

Staff Training and Development

The Centre always provides training and development opportunities to staff members to upgrade their skill sets for achieving service excellence. Six visually impaired masseurs have successfully completed the Elementary Computer Course for Visually Impaired.  We also supported two masseurs to attend the 11th World Blind Union Asia Pacific Regional Seminar on Massage in Malaysia in May 2012.

Advertisement

For service promotion, the Centre obtained free advertisements in Weekend Weekly, New Monday and free electronic advertisements in Vitality.  It also participated in various exhibitions or public events such as the Caring Company cum NGO Participation Day at The Hong Kong Convention Centre, and provided massage service to the marathon runners joining the Standard Chartered Hong  Kong Marathon 2013.

SERVICE DATE 12/13

As at 31 March 2013

Career Support and Development Centre

Employment Service Unit

Number of job seekers registered	363
Number of job seekers already gainfully employed	60
Number of new job seekers	45
Number of counselling service / consultations	4,272
Number of job vacancy referrals	441
Number of interview under escort	92

Supported Employment Service

Accumulated number of registrants	13
Number of placements	12

Aids and Appliances Service

Number of opening sessions	586
Number of user attendances	4,256
Number of sales	3,603

Adaptive Equipment Load Service

Number of loan-out aids/appliances

126

"Job Club" Pre-work Training Programme

Number of participants	72
Number of training classes	21
Number of training sessions	83
Number of training programmes	10

Computer Zone and Self-study Rooms

Number of facility users

1,284

Factory for the Blind

Sales Proceeds of the Different Work Sections (HK$)

Sewing	2,207,594
Paper Box	7,067,879
Filing Tag	1,329,674
Customer Service Centre	1,507,027
Assembling (Sheltered Workshop)	1,018,744
Total	13,130,918

Factory Workers

Visually Impaired	10
Hearing Impaired	3
Mentally Handicapped	54
Ex-mentally III	3
Sub-total	70

Sheltered Workshop Trainees

Visually Impaired	21
Mentally Handicapped	45
Ex-mentally III	76
Physically Handicapped	1
Sub-total	143

Health Massage and Treatment Centre

Total No. of Customers	11,234
Total No. of Service Hours	35,941

Mobile Massage Team

Total No. of Customers	2,266
Total No. of Service Hours	1,752

 

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Eye Care and Low Vision Services

GENERAL EYE AND LOW VISION CENTRE

The General Eye and Low Vision Centre provided over 41,000 consultations and more than 1,000 major surgeries in 2012/13.  Clinical low vision training was given to final year Optometry students of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Ophthalmologists of the government hospitals, other local and overseas service providers and institutes, such as the optometry students of the Singapore Polytechnic University, project manager and clinicians of the Sightsavers International.

With the generous donation of the S.K. Yee Medical Foundation, Chan Dang Social Services Foundation and Yin Shin Leung Charitable Foundation, we conducted 128 free low vision eye examinations, gave away 209 free low vision devices, and provided 36 subsidized surgeries to patients with financial hardship to improve their eyesight and functional ability.

To echo for prevention of blindness, we assisted the Hong Kong Federation of Societies for Prevention of Blindness and the Wanchai District Council in the provision of glaucoma screening and demonstration of adaptive aids for the elderly persons in March 2013.

A one-day seminar on "Supportive Services and Resources for Students with Visual Impairment" was organized with the Education Bureau in December 2012, for teachers who served students with visual impairment in mainstream schools.

The course on "Teachers Training Course on Supporting Learning Needs of Students with Cortical Visual Impairment" was organized in January 2013 to provide training to 25 special teachers and therapists, to equip them with the appropriate knowledge and teaching skills for students suffering from Cortical Visual Impairment.

As a highly specialized clinical centre in low vision, the Centre has been chosen by the Lions Clubs International Foundation to organize intensive training on low vision, for a group of representatives from the developing countries in the coming year. The project aims to improve their low vision service for a reduction of the number of people suffering from  avoidable blindness.

VISION 2020 LOW VISION RESOURCE CENTRE

With continuous effort to solicit and procure high quality and affordable vision assessment equipment and low vision devices, and supply them to more than 96 developing countries in the world, the Low Vision Resource Centre (LVRC) helped a large amount of persons with visual impairment in these countries to enhance their visual functions as well as quality of living. Other than low vision devices and assessment equipment, LVRC also supplies educational tools to schools and rehabilitation service centres for the visually impaired in the developing countries.

LVRC regularly reviewed and updated the variety of low vision devices and assessment equipment through consultation with experts in low vision. In addition, we proactively helped our clients to solve the technical problems in using the low vision devices.  New vision assessment equipment and low vision devices such as the LED illuminated magnifiers, cross cylinders, light absorptive goggles were introduced in 2012/13, so as to enrich the choices available to our clients.

For low vision training, LVRC received requests from international organizations from time to time to provide training to their ophthalmologists, optometrists and management executives.  The Centre organized a 5-day low vision training course to two ophthalmologists and a programme manager of the Bangladesh Office of the Sightsavers International with support from our General Eye & Low Vision Centre in July 2012.

SERVICE DATA 12/13

As at 31 March 2013

The General Eye and Low Vision Centre

Total No. of Attendance

General Eye	39,887
Low Vision	1,721

Vision 2020 Low Vision Resource Centre

Total no. of low vision devices dispensed to developing countries

20,567 pcs

 

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Residential Services 

INTEGRATED REHABILITATION PROGRAMME FOR THE AGED BLIND

The Therapy Integrated Service (TIS) study conducted by our Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist has shown positive outcome for providing effective treatment to elderly with visual impairment living in the Care & Attention homes.  Various outcome measurements reflected significant results in both physical and mental aspects of the clients participated in the scheme that affirms the future service direction in this aspect.

Supported by the Social Welfare Development Fund, Certificate Workshop for Therapy Integrated Service Assistants was held from October to November 2012, with a total of 37 staff members attending the course.  Apart from an introduction of job skills for therapy assistants, advanced therapy equipment and concepts of therapy integrated  service were introduced to broaden the knowledge of the participants.  The certificate workshop trained up qualified staff members in TIS service for enhancement of service quality and the capability of our staff in the field of geriatric services.

END OF LIFE PROGRAMMES

A 3-year project named "Self-Fulfilling End of Life" was supported by the Community Chest to provide end of life care programmes and counseling service for the aged blind living in the four aged blind homes from 2012/13 to 2014/15.  Intensive counseling, bereavement counseling were rendered to residents and their family members, different life and death education programmes were carried out to cultivate aged blind residents a positive outlook toward life, when facing challenges of ageing and health deterioration.  Training programme for staff and volunteers on end of life care, memorial services for residents and family members to express their grief and remembrance of their deceased friends  and relatives had been organized.  Life review books and CD-ROMs were  produced to help residents to develop a sense of completion of life fulfillment.

FALL PREVENTION PROGRAMMES

Fall accidents of the elderly or persons with multiple disabilities often lead to serious consequences, such as bone fracture, decreased mobility and low quality of  life.  Residents living in our aged blind homes and homes for the multiply handicapped are prone to fall due to visual impairment.  To reduce the risk and incidence of fall, the Physiotherapy Team implemented fall prevention programmes in the residential homes.  Residents were  screened to identify those with high fall risk to join the balance exercise groups and educational talks, with prescription of appropriate walking aids and provision of appropriate tools, and etc.  Upon joint effort from different staff teams, there was a reduction in fall incidents in our aged blind homes ranging between 21% and 62% for the year 2012/13.

DENTAL CARE SERVICES

Under the "Dental Care Services for Elderly Living in Residential Homes" launched since September 2011, our four aged blind homes joined the Basic Dental Service Outreach Scheme operated by community centres under the funding support of the Food and Health Bureau.  Meanwhile, residents attended the visiting dental service offered by voluntary organizations, the charity dental scheme supported by the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association, and also receiving sponsorship from a private donor for dental treatment.

Dental service for the needy residents had been completed in March 2013.  There were a total of 374 residents received the check-up service. Among them, 153 residents required to have follow up treatment.  Under the scheme, part of the dental fee for residents who were recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) was waived.  For those non CSSA recipients with financial difficulty or those CSSA recipients who could not pay the dental fee in full, they were supported by Mrs. Grace Tsao Fund.  We are grateful to Mrs. Tsao for her generous support of the project. In 2012/13, $65,910 was drawn from the fund.  Mrs Tsao would continue to support those residents who have  financial difficulty and require urgent dental service in the coming year.

On the other hand, 29 residents of Morning Glory DAC cum Hostel and Bradbury Home received mobile dental service offered by the Project Concern Hong Kong in February and March 2013 respectively, saving them the time for taking transport and waiting at clinics for the service.  The residents received oral examination, and simple treatment on the mobile dental bus came for delivery of the service.

AGEING AMONGST CLIENTS WITH MULTIPLE DISABILITIES WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

In face of the ageing problem of our clients of multiple disabilities with visual impairment (MDVI), a new "Enhanced Care Unit" was set up in 2010 at the Morning Glory Day cum Hostel, to provide suitable care and rehabilitation to the residents.  Additional funding was received from the Social Welfare Department to acquire therapy equipment.

The "Fitness 40 Scheme" and "Golden Rainbow Rehabilitation Group" were launched for promotion of physical &  fitness exercise among trainees who were 40 and over of age.  An education group about menopause was conducted for female residents age over 50 living in Morning Glory DAC cum Hostel and Bradbury Home.

In view of the long term shortage for residential care for ageing persons with intellectual disabilities, as well as the long waiting time for day activity centre, the core members of the MGCH Parents & Relatives Association joined the sharing meeting  organized by the Ageing of ID (Persons with Intellectual Disabilities) Concern Group on 3 December 2012.  At the meeting, they expressed their concern regarding aged care for the frail MDVI, the service gap and the work pressure due to shortage of nursing care staff, at the presence of Mr. Cheung Kin Chung, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare Bureau. 

JOYFUL GARDEN

Thanks to the support from the Queen Elizabeth Fund, the project "Joyful Garden - Let Nature Feed Your Senses" was launched at the Joyful Home - a self-financing small group home for visually impaired persons with multiple handicaps.  The renovation work was completed in March 2013, with installation of a shoulder rotator for service users to do stretching exercise, to improve their gross motor function and a planting area for them to enjoy gardening.  The residents were trained to take turns to water and nurture the plants, and feed the fishes in the mini pond. Through the interactive sensory garden programmes and physical exercise, the trainees and residents of the Joyful Home are more competent in self-expression, able to have better gross and fine motor coordination and self-confidence.  The programmes allowed them to enjoy a sense of accomplishment and understand the life cycle.

SERVICE DATA 12/13

As at 31 March 2013

Enrolment in each of the Home

Bradbury Care and Attention Home for the Aged Blind

Male	20
Female	31
Total	51

Kowloon Home for the Aged Blind

Female	71
Total	71

Yuen Long Home for the Aged Blind

Care and Attention Section
Male	31
Female	28
Sub Total	59
Infirmary Section
Male	5
Female	11
Sub Total	16
Total	75

Jockey Club Tuen Mun Home for the Aged Blind

Care and Attention Section
Male	65
Female	124
Sub Total	189
Infirmary Section
Male	5
Female	26
Sub Total	31
Total	220

Morning Glory DAC CUM Hostel

Day Training Centre

Male	33
Female	29
Total	62

Hostel

Male	32
Female	30
Total	62

Bradbury Home

Male	4
Female	6
Total	10

Joyful Home

Male	5
Female	3
Total	8

 

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Barrier Free Facilities and Adaptive Equipment Services

BARRIER FREE ACCESS (HK) LIMITED

Barrier Free Access (HK) Limited (BFA) has been actively involved in the development of barrier free facilities, in order to provide an easily accessible environment for the visually impaired people.  There was an expansion in various types of consultancy services and production of Braille and tactile products in the financial year 2012/13.  After being in operation for one year, the services are growing more mature.

Achievements Made

Pursuant to the promise of the Policy Address, all government premises should have an upgrade of their barrier free facilities.  BFA was thus involved in the design and production of tactile maps and guide-path for more than 200 government premises and public venues. These included parks, open areas, public libraries, government offices and etc. The improvements facilitate the visually impaired to widen their life circles and foster their social integration.

Working with the Hospital Authority, guide paths and tactile maps were installed in its clinics and hospitals.  In addition, professional advice was provided to improve hospital facilities to facilitate the use by the visually impaired. 

Furthermore, BFA had entered an agreement with The Link to design and produce tactile maps for its shopping centres.  Consultancy services were also provided for enhancing their barrier free access facilities including installation of guide paths and Braille signages.  The provision of a barrier free environment in shopping centres fosters equal participation and social inclusion for the visually impaired.

In order to support the Web Accessibility Campaign held by the government, BFA extended its services to web accessibility testing starting from last year.  This is to ensure that the compatibility of the website and web browsing tools be accessible to the visually impaired. Advice were given to organizations in setting up their accessible websites.  During the year, BFA provided testing services for a number of government departments such as Department of Health, Buildings Department, Social Welfare Department, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and  Immigration Department.  In the near future, we plan to extend our services to different major public and private organizations, so that the visually impaired are able to get the latest information on the barrier-free internet.

Public Education

To raise public awareness towards barrier free facilities, promotion and public education activities were carried out.  Seminars were held for The Hong Kong Institute of Architects, The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors and Leisure and Cultural Services Department, to enhance their knowledge of barrier free facilities. Free consultancy services were provided in the design of barrier free facilities for the charitable Christmas event "Illuminated Forest" in 2012, an activity jointly held with Langham Place and The Hong Kong Society for the Blind.  In this event, training was provided to the staff members of Langham Place to guide the visually impaired for visit, and to let the public experience the difficulties and  needs of the visually impaired by walking with blind-folds. Barrier free facilities such as Braille and tactile maps were also introduced to the general public.  This public education programme attracted more than 45,000 visitors.  In future, we will organize more public education events to enhance public awareness towards barrier free facilities for better social inclusion of the visually impaired.

Professional Development

Two staff members attended the 8th China Information Accessibility Forum in Beijing, China in September 2012.  A paper related to the employment status of Hong Kong visually impaired people was presented. This conference enabled us to update the latest development of web accessibility and assistive technology in Mainland China. Ideas on information accessibility were exchanged among delegates from various countries. The experience of using adaptive equipment for museum visit and the visit to the China Braille Printing House had been inspiring regarding use of information technology for mobility and daily life integration.  More resources will be put in research and development in future. We hope that the development of new assistive technologies can improve the independence of our visually impaired service users.

ADAPTIVE EQUIPMENT SERVICE

The objective of Adaptive Equipment Service (AES) is to provide sales of adaptive equipment and supportive services to persons with visual impairment to enable them to stay active in their work, school and community and to improve their quality of life.

The sale for 2012/13 was $2,635,670. It was 16.5% less than 2011/12 due to increase in product cost and operating cost, and the challenge of a more competitive market.

In 2012/13, we introduced a series of new products to the service users and potential customers through organization of exhibitions and demonstrations. The DaVinci and TopaZ table top high definition closed-circuit television viewing aids were among some of the new key products. The new portable I-Lite lighting device and Pebble-Mini hand-held video magnifier gave better reading convenience to the low vision persons.  The Focus 14 Blue, Focus 40 Blue, Brailliant Braille display and the JAWS v14 software were more powerful than their earlier versions and could help those with severe visual impairment to increase their work efficiency with the more advanced designs.

SERVICE DATA 12/13

Barrier Free Access (HK) Limited

No. of tactile Maps Designed and Produced	150 pcs
No. of customers served	275 nos
No. of orders	920 nos

Adaptive Equipment Service

2011-12 Product Category in Quantity

Repair & Maintenance	34%
Screen Reader Software	10%
Magnification Software	8%
Braille & Speech Devices	17%
Embossers	2%
CCTVs	29%

 

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Education and Community Support Services

CENTRALISED BRAILLE PRODUCTION CENTRE

In the year under review, the Centralised Braille Production Centre (CBPC) has completed braille transcription of 676 books of a total of 225,248 master braille pages, while the overall production (including copies) add up to 4,147 volumes and 565,825 braille sheets (included loose sheets). 

In the year, CBPC produced a new braille contemporary literature bi-monthly magazine - Fleurs des Lettres and has written and published a user guide on iOS for visually impaired readers.  Service to the tertiary students has been enhanced by introducing a fast-track braille notes production service.

To promote reading and braille usage, CBPC has jointly organized with Information Accessibility Centre (IAC) a reading group on Ancient Chinese Classical Reading.  To promote Accessible Mobile Devices, CBPC has provided technical and logistic support in a joint project with Parents Resource Centre and IAC.  CBPC has also participated in the Learning and Teaching Expo 2012 organized by the Education Bureau at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in November 2012.

INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY CENTRE

Introduction

In response to the growing number of service users with higher education, Information Accessibility Centre (IAC) strives to offer more educational, cultural and self-improvement oriented services and programmes to meet their   aspirational needs.  Our new initiatives received  positive feedback from service users.

Tele-digital Library Services for the Visually Impaired

Access to newspapers, magazines and talking books through the Tele-digital Library system is an important part of our service users' daily life. Ten daily newspapers are released as early as 7:00am every morning.  This year, we upgraded our system twice in order to make the system more user friendly in response to users' needs.

Audio Description Services

In May 2012, IAC received a funding support from the Community Chest for starting a three-year project "Audio Description Services for the Visually Impaired" from 2012/13 to 2014/15. This project aims to enhance our visually impaired members' social integration and achieve equal participation in cultural activities by providing audio description, such as in film screenings, performing arts, visits, and etc.

Watching films is one of our members' favourite activities of leisure. From April 2012 to March 2013, 26 film screenings and 6 dramas with live audio description were organized, including 3 films at cinemas.  The total number of participants was 1,341.

Visits with Audio Description

In order to help the visually impaired to have a better understanding of the places they are visiting, we added audio description to visits and outings. This year, we organized two tram rides and two visits to the Hong Kong Wetland Park.  During each visit, in addition to the docents' guided tour, our volunteer audio describers supplemented with description of the facilities and sceneries of the places visited, to provide service users a much better understanding of the places they visited.

Short Films with Audio Description

In July 2012, IAC received a funding from the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC)for adding audio description sound tracks to five short films that were uploaded to EOC's website for further promotion of audio description.  The grant signified the Commission's recognition of the importance of audio description service to upgrade the quality of life of the visually impaired citizens.

Film with Audio Description in Digital Audio Broadcasting

IAC assisted Radio Television Hong Kong  Digital Audio Broadcasting in starting a new programme"好聲好戲" in February 2013. Every month, they broadcast one film/drama on Digital Radio Station 35.  The programme has opened a new chapter in the development of Audio Description in Hong Kong.

Chinese Movie DVDs with Audio Description

This year, thanks to the support from different film making and distribution companies, we were able to add audio description sound tracks to the following three movie DVDs: "A Simple Life", released in June 2012, "Diva", released in September 2012; and "The Last Tycoon", released in March 2013.

Cultural and Leisure Activities

In order to cultivate a reading culture in the visually impaired community and to help our service users to have a meaningful use of their leisure time, this year we introduced a number of cultural and leisure activities.

Ancient Chinese Classical Reading Group

In July-August 2012, we organized an Ancient Chinese Classical Reading  Group in collaboration with the Centralised Braille Production Centre, with an intention to raise members' interests in ancient Chinese classical writings. Ten secondary school students joined the group.  The attendees spoke highly of this learning experience and supported more of this kind of learning group should be organized in future.

Cultural Magazine

In collaboration with our Centralised Braille Production Centre, we added one cultural magazine "Fleurs des Lettres" to our library collection in March 2013. We got the support from 水煮魚文化有限公司, for provision of the text version of the magazine for Braille and audio version production. We shall start with the Braille version and explore using a new method for converting text to speech version.

Talks of Different Interests

To widen the exposure and knowledge of the visually impaired, the Centre organized seven talks of different interests for our members this year.  The guest speakers included doctors, writers, radio programme host, lecturer, an instructor in catering service, and etc.  These talks were well received by our members.

Music Programmes

Xinjiang Music and Culture Workshop

We invited the graduate students from the Music Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to organize a series of music workshops for the visually impaired. The first music workshop was the "Xinjiang Music and Culture Workshop" held in November 2012.  The guest speaker introduced Xinjiang music and its culture by arranging live performance by a Xinjiang native, with a video show about the actual life there. Further, in order to give a fresh and holistic experience to the visually impaired participants, the speaker attempted to embrace all non-visual sensations during the interactive activities. In addition to the verbal description of the musical instruments, the visually impaired participants were encouraged to touch and try different instruments, Xinjiang jujube, wine and homemade yogurt and they also had the chance to dress up with Uyghur ethnic clothes for photo-taking.

Mini Concert

Our long time supporter, Mr. Stephen Gan Fock Wai, organized a mini concert for our service users on 22 December 2012.  He invited a number of singers and movie stars to sing in the concert. He brought with him a professional music band and technicians to help in the production of a high quality mini concert for our members.

Cantonese Opera

On 23 January 2013, we invited Dr. Chan Chi Kwan (a popular guest speaker) and his Cantonese opera singing group to conduct a Cantonese opera performance. The participants enjoyed the concert a lot.

THE HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB COMMUNITY PROJECT GRANT: PARENTS RESOURCE CENTRE FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN

The Parents Resource Centre for Visually Impaired Children (PRC) continued to provide appropriate training, family and social activities to suit the needs of her members in 2012/13.

Broadcasting Training and Internet Radio Project

With an aim to improve the communication skill and self-confidence of visually impaired children and youth members of PRC, the project started in August 2008.  Seven primary student members were trained as junior DJs in five internet radio workshops.  Radio programmes were recorded and produced by three trained visually impaired technicians.  Sixty-eight radio programmes (about 740 minutes in total) were produced and uploaded to the radio website in 2012/13.  They included people interviews, parent members?sharings, people interviews in English as a trial, and interactive games.

School Inclusion Sharing Project

The Project aims to facilitate the visually impaired students to solicit more direct support from their schools, their peers and teachers, and to increase the social integration opportunity of the visually impaired youngsters. In the year, sharing programmes were conducted in two primary schools and three secondary schools.  Through interactive activities, experiential games and sharing, sighted students are able to learn more about the abilities and potentials of their fellow visually impaired schoolmates to enhance mutual support and concern. Five visually impaired students and five parent members gave sharing to 316 secondary students and 120 primary students.

2012 Variety Show

The Variety Concert in the form of a mini-concert was held on 18 August 2012 in the Assembly Hall.  Thirty-one visually impaired children and youths and one sighted family member gave performance in the form of story-telling, dancing, piano playing, violin playing, singing and Judo. It attracted an audience of over 50. All the performers tried their best to show their talents on the stage.  Six members of PRC, who had received DJ training, took turn as the MCs of the concert and demonstrated their impressive skills acquired from the DJ training.

RESOURCE CENTRE FOR THE DEAFBLIND

Due to the different degrees of deficiency in hearing and vision, it is of great importance for the deafblind to use tactile and other senses to connect with the outside world.  Hence, the programmes of the Centre are tailor-made to meet such needs. In the past year, programmes were conducted to let the defblind feel the  voice of various kind of birds and smell the scents of plants in the Hong Kong Park Forsgate Conservatory and Edward Youde Aviary.  In the moon-cake DIY programme, the members could feel the blending of flour and smell the scents of the ingredients.  During the doctor pet visit, through the use of touch, smell and hearing, members were excited to have such close and instant contact with the dogs.

Social Inclusion Programmes

Social inclusion is important for people to learn more about the needs of deafblind people.  In May, July and August 2012, 73 persons participated in the joint functions organized with the Brilliant Quotient Association, Asbury Methodist Social Service and secondary school volunteers in Kwai Chung area and people from all walks of life. Through playing games, learning of tactile sign language and home visits, the sighted were able to communicate  directly with the deafblind members, to understand their needs and increase their understanding of the deafblind.  Some organizations sent gift packs to the members too.

The Centre received funding from Shamshuipo District Council to implement the project "Walk with You". Training workshop and outing were held for the volunteers and deafblind people in January and February 2013.  Through the activities, the volunteers were given chances to communicate with deafblind and practice what they had learnt in the workshop.  It also benefitted the deafblind for having the opportunity to enjoy outing during the Chinese New Year.

Deafblind Angel Scheme

Between September 2012 and March 2013, under the Deafblind Angel Scheme, training sessions with case sharing and interactive games were conducted for the volunteers.  It aimed to increase the cohesiveness amongst the volunteers and to strengthen their communication skills and knowledge to serve the deafblind. Volunteers made friendly visits, and helped the deafblind members in their daily living, such as going shopping, provision of escort service, participation in social activities, and etc.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND RECREATIONAL SERVICES

Community Support and Recreational Services (CSRS) continued to provide emotional support services to the newly blind waitlisted for training at our Rehabilitation Centre.  Besides, recreational, educational and developmental group activities were organized for the newly blind and graduates of the Rehabilitation Centre to strengthen their abilities to lead a meaningful and independent life.

Up to 31 March 2013, a total of 668  persons registered under the Community Support and Recreational Service with 470 being visually impaired members, 71 family members and 127 volunteers. During the year, CSRS organized five festive and seasonal programmes for a total of 252 participants, and 16 outdoor activities for a total of 646 participants.  In addition, 36 groups were organized with the participation of 954 members by head-count. 

The First Hong Kong International Wing Chun Cup

CSRS co-organised with The World Wing Chun Union and The Hong Kong Wing Chun Union the First Hong Kong International Wing Chun Cup from 27 to 28 October 2012 at the Dragon  Centre. Twelve visually impaired members joined the competitions, "Darting Fingers" (Biu Tze) and "Little Practice" (Siu Lim Tao) designed for the visually impaired and six of them won the prizes.

VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT SERVICE

The Central Numbering System for Volunteers

The system was set up in November 2009. Volunteers from various departments were assigned with a volunteer number for issuing volunteer card, with standardized format and colour.  Under the scheme, duplication of volunteer card can be avoided for better co-ordination and recording of service hours for volunteers.  The first batch of volunteer cards were expired on 31 December 2012. All volunteer cards would be subject to a three year term and the next expiry date will be 31 December 2015. Upon re-issuance of volunteer cards, updating of volunteers database can be done.  Up to 31 March 2013, 645 volunteers registered with our agency.

Get A Day, Get A Disney Day Volunteer Scheme

Launched by the Agency for Volunteer Service (AVS) and supported by the Hong Kong Disney Resort, aiming to promote volunteer service in the community, volunteers completed 8 hours of service in the participating organizations would have a chance to receive a one-day complimentary admission ticket to the Hong Kong Disneyland.  We joined the Scheme in 2012/13 and 200 tickets were distributed to our volunteers.

Volunteer Training and Gathering

To cultivate a sense of belonging and provide chance to network and share with one other, volunteers gathering and sharing were organized annually.  With support of the Sham Shui Po District Council, a day camp on understanding the needs of visually impaired was conducted in November 2012.  Two visually impaired guest speakers were invited to share their life experiences, and the proper ways to give help to the visually impaired.

In order to equip staff members the skills for volunteer management, the Volunteer Training and Development Centre of AVS was invited as speaker on Volunteer Risk Management Training in March 2013.  Twenty-six staff members who are responsible for volunteer co-ordination and management joined the training.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

HKSB iPad App

Sponsored by the Galaxy (Asia) Limited, an iPad App was launched in November 2012.  Users can read our newsletters, event photos, annual reports and videos on their iPads after downloading the HKSB app.  

Public Education Programme

During the year, more than 6,000 individuals coming from schools, community organizations and business corporations get to know more about our services, the abilities of visually impaired persons and the difficulties they encountered in daily life through various public education programmes, including visit to our service units, participation in sighted-guide talks, talks on use of tactile sign language and sharing sessions by visually impaired persons.  We were indebted to the Equal Opportunity Commission for sponsoring part of the public education programme expense during the year to make the visit of 690 students from both primary and secondary schools possible.

SERVICE DATA 12/13

As at 31 March 2013

Centralised Braille Production Centre

Transcription Completed

Books (Titles)

English	250
Chinese	426

Articles / Documents

English	216
Chinese	286

Thermoformed / Embossed / Bound

Books (Volumes)	4,147
Books / Articles / Documents (Sheets)	565,825

Information Accessibility Centre

Membership

Members

2,977

Tele-digital Library Service for the Visually Impaired

Usage Frequencies （calls）

309,007

Collection

Braille Books (titles)	11,064
Talking Books (titles)	5,860
Music Compact Discs (discs)	5,837
CD-ROMs / VCDs /DVDs (discs)	7,237

Loans

Talking Books（cassettes）	122,445
Braille Books（volumes）	13,634
Talking Periodicals（cassettes）	15,005
Brialle Periodicals（volumes）	4,802
Music Compact Discs（discs）	6,427
CD-ROMs / VCDs /DVDs（discs）	4,428

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Project Grant:
Parents Resource Centre for Visually Impaired Children

Membership

Members	939
Affiliated Memebrs	73

Member Attendance

Drop-in members	2,786
Visitors	56
Enquiries / Referrals	95
Toy & Resource Loans	321

Toy & Resource Library Collections

Educational Toys	481
Reference Books	934
Educaitonal Compact Discs	325
Learning Tapes	442
Video Tapes	121
Video Compact Discs	863
CD-ROMs	121

Number of Programmes and Attendance

 

Programmes	191
Attendance	2,545

 

Resource Centre for the Deafblind

Individual Membership:
Individual Honorary Members	3
Individual Life Members	23
Individual Ordinary Members (Deafblind)	98
Individual Ordinary Members (Workers / Carers)	50
Total	174
Organisation Membership:
Organisation Life Members	11
Ordinary Associate Members	0
Total	11

Volunteer Development Service

Total number of volunteers registered through the Centralised Volunteer Number System	645
Total no. of Service Hours	54,880

Donors (individuals and organizations) awarded in the Appreciation Ceremony 2013

Excellence Love Award	1
Generous Giving Angel Award	52
Long-term Giving Award	29

Volunteers Awarded in the Appreciation Ceremony 2013

Individuals: Gold Diamond Award Purple Crystal Award Gold Award Silver Award Bronze Award	15 56 39 78 106
Groups: Gold Diamond Award Purple Crystal Award Gold Award Bronze Award	1 1 1 1
Individuals, Organizations and Corporations awarded "Caring Corporation/Supporter" in the Appreciation Ceremony 2013	30

Number of Participants

Get A Day, Get A Disney Day Volunteer Scheme 2012/13	200
Day Camp for Volunteer Training cum Gathering	90
Volunteer Risk Management Training	26

Public Education

Public Education Programme

No. of schools and organizations	90
No. of participants	6,169
No. of visit to HKSB headquarters	84
No. of Sighted-guide Talk	35
No. of visually impaired persons sharing	53
No. of talks on Tactile Sign Language	1