The “Jockey Club Embrace Life Series 2.0 – Quality Mental Health Campus Project” (JC-QMHCP), organised by The Mental Health Association of Hong Kong (MHAHK), held its launch ceremony on 26 August, with Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU), one of the supporting organisations of the project.

The ceremony was officiated by MHAHK T.N. Foo Centre for Positive Mental Health Committee Chairperson Dr Pan Pey-chyou. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Executive Manager of Charities (Positive Ageing & Elderly Care; and Healthy Community) Horace Lit; Education Bureau Acting Principal Assistant Secretary (Special Education) of the HKSAR Government Chan Kit-ling; HKMU Vice President (Research and Student Development) Prof. Ricky Kwok Yu-kwong; CUHK Faculty of Medicine Assistant Dean (Student Support) Prof. Sandra Chan Sau-man; and Kowloon True Light School Principal Lee Yi-ying. Twenty secondary schools participated in JC-QMHCP, and representatives from 18 schools attended the ceremony.

MHAHK, a member of the “City Companion” Community Alliance on Promoting Mental Health, provides mental health support services to secondary schools in the Kowloon City district through the Project, with aim of raising mental health awareness among teachers, students and parents. JC-QMHCP, funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, commenced in the second quarter of this year.

HKMU took the lead in establishing the “City Companion” Community Alliance on Promoting Mental Health in April, partnering with the Auxiliary Medical Service, Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service, Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service, SideBySide and MHAHK. Serving the Kowloon City district as the first pilot location, the alliance aims to enhance community awareness and understanding of mental health through a series of services.

Comprising a professional team of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and experienced social workers, JC-QMHCP will provide mental health consulting services to help schools develop solutions to enhance student mental health and prevent mental health crises on their campuses. It will provide “Mental Health Ambassadors” training for students to encourage peer support and mutual understanding of mental health-related issues. It will also conduct “Mental Health First Aid” courses to train teachers, parents and students to identify mental health issues and initiate early intervention.