The CVG champions community service and volunteer activities. We partnered with the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and Hong Kong Christian Services to reach out to the needy. A total of 116 colleagues volunteered more than 500 hours to conduct activities for both the old and the young:

Volunteers and the elderly show off their finished scrapbook after an eventful and memorable day.

Activities for the elderly

Our volunteers help an elderly woman put together a scrapbook of fond memories.

• At a workshop, we put together for the aged scrapbooks to keep their memories alive.
• We took the aged on an outing to the Mai Po wetland park so they could watch the birds and take note of other ecological phenomena that nature had to offer.
• We helped some “home-alone” old people with spring cleaning before the lunar new year and served them soups.

Programmes for youth

• We arranged for children in foster care or adoption programmes to visit a music farm in Tai Po, giving them a rare opportunity to spend time with their biological parents and to learn to appreciate nature.
• In the “Dreams Come True” programme, we partnered with the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society to help teenagers from underprivileged background to fulfil their dreams of learning a new skill, using donations collected from our colleagues to sponsor short courses. The project aimed to provide support, motivation and encouragement to these teenagers.

To encourage colleagues to participate in community or civic services, we revised the Employee Volunteering leave policy. As a token of appreciation, those who volunteered for a community service would be entitled to corresponding time off of up to one full day per year.

Colleagues spread cheers with carols at the staff Christmas party.

Besides contributing their time, our colleagues donated to a number of charities and supported events such as Operation Smile, the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Appeal, the Community Chest Dress Special Day, and the Community Chest Skip lunch Day.

We drew colleagues’ attention to the plight of victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan by posting articles on the CSR blog and calling for support by different means.

At a corporate level, we continued our “donation in lieu of corporate gift” programme, making nominal donations to charitable causes in the name of guest speakers. Beneficiaries of such corporate donations this year include the Singapore International School Foundation Ltd and St John’s Cathedral.

Volunteer participation

We have been striving to adopt best practices to set a good example. Building upon the 2003 guidelines regarding electronic submission of share applications in an initial public offer, we introduced in 2011 a class exemption to the Listing Rules. Under the so-called “mixed media offer,” companies seeking to list shares or debentures on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd may now distribute paper application forms without an accompanying printed prospectus, as long as the prospectus is available on line. Targeted at minimising paper wastage, the new rule represents a balanced approach that facilitates market efficiency without undermining investor protection. We hope the mixed media offer will change the long-standing industry practice of printing large quantities of prospectuses that end up being discarded.

As our own initiative to reduce physical filing, we launched the Document Management System (DMS), an electronic document storage programme for the whole organisation. The system facilitated online document sharing. After the first three months, documents filed in the system reached 200,000 copies. We also stopped printing SFC diaries and instead encouraged colleagues to use the digital calendar for appointments.

Paper usage statistics

On a daily basis, we consciously work to minimise negative environmental impact. To reduce our carbon footprint, we replaced aged office equipment with more environmentally friendly versions and introduced a more energy-efficient hybrid to replace an aged vehicle for executive use. We also adopted a green procurement policy for consumable items, such as paper and light sources. Other green initiatives include reducing the use of disposable utensils and posting new signs and posters to drive awareness of environmental protection.

Colleagues dress in black to show support for Earth Hour and environmental conservation.

March 2011 marked the start of our “Green Campaign.” We invited colleagues to adopt small potted plants so they would be reminded to care for the environment. As an organisation, we also supported World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour 2011, a worldwide event, and galvanized staff members to make a personal pledge to cut wastage and support sustainable living. Over a hundred colleagues dressed in black the day prior to Earth Hour in support of environmental conservation.

Recognising that people are our greatest asset, we are committed to the wellbeing of staff both in and out of the office.

The SFC Chairman Dr Eddy Fong leads by example to accept a flu shot ahead of the flu season.

Ahead of the peak flu season in the winter of 2010, we offered flu vaccinations to colleagues and received enthusiastic support. The vaccination was oversubscribed within the first day of registration.

To foster a healthy lifestyle among staff, we launched “Wellness Months” in January and March 2011. Colleagues learned tips from healthcare professionals on how to avoid frozen shoulders; others received a free physical check-up; still others received 30-minute neck-and-shoulder massages from therapists-in-training. Everybody in the organisation received free fruits and messages explaining the properties of each type of fruit to encourage a healthy eating habit.

Along with the fruits comes a small card listing upcoming wellness activities.

Colleagues prepare fruits for distribution during the Wellness Month.

Apart from physical wellness, we held a series of six sessions on investing featuring a colleague with investment experience who shared key investment concepts and ways to develop a proper attitude towards investing.

We formed the Staff Activities Committee (SAC) under the motto “Enriching Your Work Life” to organise recreational staff activities to enhance staff’s sense of belonging. The SAC, comprising of volunteers from across the organisation successfully organised events including the staff Christmas and Chinese new year parties, a movie night, and placed festive candies and treats in all pantries for staff members for the celebration of Chinese new year.

In recognition of our contribution to community service and protection of the environment, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service has presented the SFC its fifth consecutive Caring Organisation Award. The Award is given to organisations that have met targets in five key assessment areas, namely, volunteer work, monetary donation, employing the vulnerable, caring for employees and caring for the environment. We anticipate that with more active involvement from our colleagues and further development of our CSR strategy, we shall be able to contribute more to the community, the environment and the welfare of our staff.