In such a prosperous city as Hong Kong, many older people still live in the countryside. Living in the remote villages inconveniences the elderly, and long-term isolation makes them more likely to feel lonely. With the support from the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund, YWCA’s Ellen Li District Elderly Community Centre launches the three-year “Rural-Net Works, LonelyLess” project to reconnect rural elders with the society and promote mutual help within the villages. It supports the elders living in the rural areas of the North District and creates a harmonious community under the cross-sectoral collaboration model.

A.S. Watson Group kicked off its partnership in April, and sent its volunteer team to visit the elders living alone in Tsiu Keng Tsuen. The Fortress Pro-Team, on the other hand, organised an electronic product workshop and used its expertise to help elderly keep in touch with the outside world during the pandemic using tablets and instant messaging software. 

A.S. Watson Group and Ellen Li District Elderly Community Centre formulate a plan together. Other than regular visits by the volunteers, pharmacists, nutritionists and Chinese medicine practitioners will provide primary care, including health screening, drug consultations, etc., to elderly living in different villages. Nutritionists even introduced food nutrition labels and healthy diet to the elderly in a tour to a supermarket in Fanling earlier.

The volunteer team has been deployed again recently. Together with a group of students from Fanling Government Secondary School, they organised festive activities for the rural elders from Tsiu Keng Tsuen and Ying Pun Tsuen to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. The events aimed at consolidating the interaction and mutual assistance among neighbours, and deepening the continuous service model of "one village, one school, one enterprise" at the same time.