Helping clients identify causes to support
By Christina Lee, Director, Private Wealth Solutions, HSBC Trustee, Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, the Tin Shui Wai (TSW) district has a reputation for domestic violence, tragic family disputes and squalid living conditions. The settlor of a charitable trust was moved by numerous news reports and expressed her desire to help this community in need.
Our team at HSBC Trustee worked with the settlor, discussing the specific areas of focus, the impact she wanted and other relevant details to help us narrow our search. We screened and interviewed various charitable organisations that serviced this community to gain a better understanding of what was lacking in terms of current support from other organisations as well as the government.
The settlor chose to focus on domestic violence affecting women and children. With the involvement of a few local charities, our team then interviewed the end-users, mainly housewives, to gain a better perspective of their needs.
We identified and provided support to a few pioneer projects, which included organising activities for the families to promote learning, communication and respect, and a computer game for children to play, specially designed in collaboration with a local university.
This game screens and identifies child abuse and family violence, which may otherwise be difficult to detect since the children may be too young or afraid to express their situation or do not know who they can confide in. Since these children often grow up in a violent environment and have grown accustomed to it, many even think that family violence is considered normal and acceptable.
With the generous donation from our settlor’s trust, the charitable organisation started a program which has now reached over 2,900 families representing over 6,000 individuals.
