Adrian Cheng Launches The WEMP Foundation, First Non-Profit Dedicated to Children’s Mental Health
November 11, 2022
Non-profit is joined by heavyweight advisors to support underserved children in Hong Kong to benefit more students and parents.
Children are the key to the future of society. Creating a healthy and
positive environment in which they grow and reach their full potential is
therefore imperative. Yet, during nearly three years of the pandemic, many
children from underprivileged families are faced with mental problems of
varying degrees.
Adrian Cheng Launches The WEMP Foundation, First Non-Profit Dedicated to Children’s Mental Health
To meet this mental health challenge and to provide professional one-stop
services on children’s mental health support, Adrian Cheng, Chief Executive
Officer of New World Development, has personally founded the non-profit
organization
The WEMP Foundation invited a star-studded advisory committee from across
professionals to share innovative, positive parenting skills with parents and
teachers. The move is also in response to the ongoing need to enhance social
and mental health services and support for children and families in Hong Kong.
Since its launch, The WEMP Foundation has benefited over 20,000 students and
parents.
The WEMP Foundation aims to nurture and improve four key attributes, namely
well-being, EQ, Mental Health, and Parenting. According to recent research on
the mental health of children and teens, nearly 40% of primary and secondary
school students in Hong Kong are showing signs of mental illness.
Symptoms include a loss of focus, anxiety, and insomnia; the suicide rate
among teenagers is also climbing, with few seeking psychological support. The
problem is strikingly worse among students and parents from underprivileged
families.
Adrian Cheng: Nurturing Wellness and Mental Health of the Next Generation
Adrian Cheng, the founder of The WEMP Foundation, said, “Children are
tomorrow’s leaders, and it is only by creating a healthy environment, with a
great mental health and wellness support system, can children grow to reach
their full potential, and positively lead our future community. I am excited
to announce the official launch of The WEMP Foundation, which will help Hong
Kong parents and teachers in their responsibilities of educating and nurturing
children. I would also like to thank all our advisors for their continuous
guidance, and for joining us on this meaningful journey of nurturing the
wellness and mental health of the next generation.”
John Lee, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, said, “Family care and school
education are the two factors that influence our children’s growth the most. I
thank the WEMP Foundation for your visionary approach and the achievements in
supporting Hong Kong’s children.”
Integrated Powerhouse to Empower Children, Parents, and Schools
The WEMP Foundation is an all-round collaboration platform that brings
together children, parents, schools, and the community. It actively offers
one-stop, innovative parenting education and children’s mental health support,
and through the collective knowledge and resources of experts from various
industries, it aims to protect and safeguard the mental health of underserved
children, in order to create a positive and loving environment in which they
grow.
Chief Executive John Lee and members of its star-studded advisory committee
members attended the inauguration ceremony of The WEMP Foundation.
The advisory committee is composed of nearly 20 experts and leaders from the
education, medical, academic, political, and business sectors, including the
Convener of the Executive Council Regina Ip; former Secretary for Food and
Health Dr. Ko Wing-man; Chairman of the Council of the Hang Seng University of
Hong Kong Dr. Moses Cheng; Archbishop and Primate of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
the Most Reverend Andrew Chan; former Chairman of the Hospital Authority Prof.
Anthony Wu; Senior Advisor to the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Dr.
Rosanna Wong; former Chairman of the MTR Corporation Dr. Frederick Ma;
Chairman of Chinese Estates Holdings Limited Lau Ming-wai; former Headmistress
of St. Paul Co-educational College Primary School Lucilla Leung; President of
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Prof. Nancy Ip and more.
Introducing Innovative, Positive Parenting Skills and Mental Health Knowledge
Many parents in Hong Kong are faced with different degrees of parenting
challenges, in particular on how to deal with their children’s emotions. These
include the pressure felt by primary school students during their studies, as
well as primary and secondary school students' addiction to computer games and
other rebellious behaviors.
If ignored by parents, these problems will often create insecurity among
children; while if parents choose to deal with these issues by beating,
scolding, or forcing them to obey, children will feel anxious and uneasy,
often bottling up their negative emotions. When faced with even bigger
setbacks, these frustrations can easily snowball into mental health problems.
Founded in February 2021, The WEMP Foundation has since launched a number of
pilot projects on mental health education. Through innovative methods such as
film appreciation, discussions, family-bonding workshops, and its original
interactive games on emotions, The WEMP Foundation brings to parents from
underprivileged families positive parenting skills and mental health
knowledge, while guiding children to learn and embrace their own emotions. Its
projects have reached more than 7,000 students and 14,000 parents since.
The WEMP Foundation plans to introduce positive parenting skills training to
10 kindergartens, with the goal of sharing positive parenting skills and
mental health knowledge with over 10,000 kindergarten parents and children. It
is set to be Hong Kong’s first education program that targets early childhood
mental health. In addition, the WEMP Foundation is also collaborating with
various partners to introduce positive parenting skills and educational
activities on emotions to schools across 18 districts, with an aim to benefit
20,000 students and parents.
3 Parenting Tips for Building a “Happy Home” Through Film Appreciation
As a means for parents to learn about positive parenting skills, the WEMP
Foundation has collaborated with a number of non-profit organizations to
screen the award-winning micro-film “Sounds of Silence” across 18
districts.
The microfilm tells the story of a 10-year-old boy who is emotionally
devastated following the loss of his grandmother. Through a touching story, it
brings out the common psychological distress and needs of children, including
the need for mothers to listen to their troubles when they feel anxious, when
their video game addiction is mistaken for rebellion, or when they blame
themselves for their own shortcomings etc.
Through the film appreciation and Q&A sessions, parents are able to better
understand their children and the psychological damage they may feel, which in
turn helps them adjust their parenting methods, and develop a positive
parent-child relationship.
The WEMP Foundation has also invited renowned educator Charles Yu to share
three tips for building a “Happy Home”, namely be rational, be optimistic and
be far-sighted. According to Yu, rational communication can avoid arguments,
while parents should stay optimistic and believe in their children’s ability
to self-correct and grow through their own mistakes. At the same time, Yu
states that parents should be far-sighted, and begin developing their
children’s merits at an early age, as children’s personality and interpersonal
skills are often developed early on.
In order to enhance family bonding, the WEMP Foundation has also invited the
Chief of Service in the Department of Psychiatry at Queen Mary Hospital Dr.
Phyllis Chan, in collaboration with the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists and
other partners, to host workshops for parents from underprivileged families.
These workshops offer invaluable support on family education that will help
parents create happiness, and a sense of success, for their children.
Original Interactive Games on Emotions to Help Students Embrace their Emotions
Happiness when shared is doubled and, on the other hand, sadness when shared
is halved. In order to encourage children to express their feelings and needs,
and to understand and embrace their emotions,
The WEMP Foundation is partnering with the not-for-profit JUST FEEL, which has
developed a set of original emotion cards and games to help educate children
on different emotions, and the importance of having the courage to express
their own feelings, in turn creating a culture of empathy at school and at
home.
The WEMP Foundation encourages parents to adopt the attitude of “no scolding,
no neglecting”, and use the four positive parenting skills, including rational
thinking, love, and tolerance, facing difficulties together with children, and
encouraging and accompanying children to find the right emotional outlets, in
order to face the emotional problems faced by children.
For those children who may not be able to express and handle their negative
emotions, The WEMP Foundation is partnering with Prince of Wales Hospital and
the specialist in developmental-behavioral pediatrics Dr. Dorothy Chan to
refer them to psychiatrists, speech therapists and psychologists for
specialized support; residential care services with the necessary financial
assistance will also be arranged for severe and urgent cases.
Similar stories:
This post may contain affiliate links, including those from Amazon Associates, which means that if you book or purchase anything through one of those links, we may earn a small commission but at no extra cost to you. All opinions are ours and we only promote products that we use.
Post a Comment
Feel free to share your thoughts! Relevant comments are welcome on this site. However, spam and promotional comments will not be published.