Giving to VTC

Giving to VTC

{ VCare } VCare is a social service learning programme aimed at nurturing the civil consciousness of students and their caring attitude towards the community. Through a series of workshops and guest seminars, it provides training in the planning of activities and services for the needy groups. Backed by social service organisations, students are responsible for identifying their target groups, developing the event content and overseeing every aspect of project execution. Sponsored by The Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust since 2013, over 900 students conducted more than 60 community services programmes, which had helped the needy in the society.
After School Care Putting themselves into teacher’s shoes for the first time, the students of the After School Care Programme were often touched by the purity and innocence of the kids they looked after. Student Yuen Ming Chu said: “From the time we were strangers to when we built emotional bonds and I started receiving surprise birthday gifts of caricatures of myself, secretly sketched by the kids, I was moved by the experience profoundly.” As for Wong Sin Yi, she recalled: “Once after escorting them on a Science Museum tour, the last activity of the programme, all the kids lined up and said “thank you” and “good-bye” to us in unison. It was unforgettable!” This programme has not only inculcated patience and a sense of responsibility in the students, but also a far-reaching impact on the kids, who would remember the love received and become inspired to pass on the legacy of care and love by undertaking voluntary work themselves. Happy Family The Happy Family programme students paid visit to families of new immigrants regularly. They led the parents in games designed to deepen their bonds with their own kids. Every activity in this project was finalised for implementation only after several rounds of brainstorming by the students. Sharing her experiences, student Wong Po Ling said: “Project management requires prior discussion and follow up on each of the many details. No part of the process can be overlooked. When contingency incidents or disagreements are encountered, good communication skills are a must to resolve the problems together among the group members.” We Care! Our Big Family After a few months of visiting the solitary elders, the students not only picked up the skills of communicating with them, but the experience also strengthened their civic spirit, prompting the students to care more for the elderly citizens in the society. Student Chan Chun Wai said: “The activity made me realise that a simple chat with the elderly about their past would make them happy. I would continue my voluntary work to help those in need!”	Love and care education
{ Speak for Success } Sponsored by HSBC, the Speak for Success Programme seeks to enhance students’communication skills and cultivate their self-confidence, in order to become an outstanding leader. In 2014/15, 500 students joined various workshops and seminars to polish their Chinese and English oratory and compering skills. They also learnt the intonations, body languages and acting techniques of drama for application in everyday communication and public speaking. Putting what they learnt into practice, students became community journalists, reporting on traditional arts in Hong Kong, to bolster their storytelling abilities. Through speaking contests, they took part in group reviews to uplift their overall oral presentation skills. The programme covers an extensive range of topics and content, to provide students with training outside their school subjects to further their personal development.
“I used to be reluctant to speak in English,” said Ko Lai Ling, a student who took part in the programme. As someone afraid of doing presentations, she felt that she has made impressive strides in self-development, now that she is brave enough to speak publicly and even compere events. “The truth is that public speaking is not as difficult as I imagined. So long as one has a grasp of the techniques of conveying one’s messages clearly, it could be successfully done.” Even when she had finished all the prepared questions in the seminars she hosted, she could act according to the situation and initiate exchanges between guests and audience, reflecting her ability to flexibly apply what she has learnt. “The instructor guided us to overcome the fears of public speaking, and encouraged us to speak and practise. So long as you are willing to master the courage to speak up, and practise relentlessly, you will improve and gradually build up your self-confidence to overcome any future challenges.” Through this programme, students are given the opportunity to learn from senior HSBC executives first hand and interact with them, with plenty of benefits to be gained. “With encouragement from the senior HSBC executives, we are determined to take our learning seriously and prepare ourselves for the future!” they added.	Eloquence with words
{ Road to Marathon } Road to Marathon is a programme to hone students’ perseverance and their spirit of moving forward through professional and systematic training for long-distance running. Since its launch two years ago, more than a thousand students have received the training in both classroom coaching and onsite instructions at the running track. Many students joined the various local marathon events for their first time. Mr Lau Ming Wai of The Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust which sponsored the programme, encouraged students to overcome difficulties with a positive attitude and face the myriad challenges in life with courage. He said: “Whether it is a marathon or short-distance running, everybody is equal on the athletic track. Efforts and results are most often positively correlated.”
For student Wong Yat Fung, who had never run a marathon before, the training he underwent was especially grueling and made him thought of giving up more than once. But it was during such moments that the words of encouragement from his classmates rang in his ears: “Run, keep running!” Motivated to continue running, he gradually developed the strength of resilience and learnt how to set goals for himself, as he kept moving ahead. Though it was his first time to take part in a half marathon, he finished in 1 hour 25 minutes and 47 seconds and the outstanding performance won him a referral to run a marathon in Australia. Despite the outstanding results achieved, Wong did not rest on his laurels. Instead, he quietly set the next goal for himself. “I truly respect and admire my coach and often call him “teacher.” I remember how I started out with no possibility of keeping pace with the coach. Hence, apart from the routine training, I put in extra effort every day to run 10 km, in the morning and at night.” His hard work finally paid off. Wong could eventually keep up with his coach and earn the latter’s praise. Since then, they have become friends, and often shared ideas on running. The training experience taught him to “believe in himself”, as though he has made a commitment. “No matter what the challenges, I believe in myself and would never give up midway.”	Running with perseverance

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